


Love at Sea

by Queenzie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eren/Annie is main focus, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Jealousy, Kissing, Multiple Relationships, POV Multiple, Sad and Happy, Self-Hatred, Slow To Update, Swearing, To Be Edited, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 15:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 27,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15392172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenzie/pseuds/Queenzie
Summary: Annie is a part of the Warrior crew, the toughest pirates said to be on the seven seas. One day, she finds herself stuck on the Scouts ship, where she has no other choice than to stay with them. While she is on there, she befriends a boy named Eren.After her disappearance, the Warriors are determined to find Annie, using Mikasa as bait. During that, Mikasa discovers that she has something in common with a boy named Bertholdt.Ymir helps a princess named Historia overthrow her father and become queen.





	1. The Warriors

**Author's Note:**

> Due to popular request, I am republishing this work. I am not that satisfied with how this turned out so I apologize for the terrible writing. This was a much better idea in my head.

**Annie's POV**

Leaning against the rail, I watched the waves rippling in the water below our ship. It was a warm, sunny day on the S.S. Warrior and we still haven't found the island that we've been looking for.

Yeah, we were the Warriors, some of the best pirates out there, but we weren't _that_ good. No pirates could ever find that island it seemed.

Our crew was only down to three people now.

"Hey, Annie!" I heard our captain, Bertholdt, yell from behind me.

"Yeah?" I asked in response and turned around to face him.

"Reiner accidentally spilled his drink on yer hoodie..." he replied and handed me my white hoodie, which now had a yellow stain on it.

"Wow," I groaned and tied it around my waist, giving a sigh of annoyance.

"Sorry!" Reiner shouted from the hallway, while he was doing laundry.

"So... are we any closer to finding the island with our treasure?" I asked Bertholdt, who was looking out at the sea.

"Don't think so, it's really hard to find..." he replied and crossed his arms across his chest, "Ever since Ymir and Zeke left, we've had to change a few things."

"Hey guys!" Reiner yelled from the crows nest. When did he get up there? "I see another ship! I think it's the Scouts!"

Bertholdt looked up, "Where? I hear they have the most expensive treasure."

"On the horizon!" Reiner replied, putting the spyglass back up to his eye.

"Great... If we get close enough, we can rob them blind!" Bertholdt announced and went up the stairs that lead to the deck with the steering wheel. I looked at Reiner who was climbing down the ladder.

"Shall we?" he asked me. I gave him a nod and grin in return and then we headed down the hallway to our storage room.

We both grabbed our weapons, my weapon I liked to use was a Sickle and Chain, Reiner's was two swords, since he was great at double blade dueling. "I'll grab Bert's." Reiner said and grabbed a pistol.

"Ready?"

"Mhm."

"Hey, we are looking good~" Reiner cooed while he admired us in the mirror. I was wearing a loose white blouse, torn black pants that were held up by a red belt and was tucked into black boots that went below my knee, and my white hoodie was tied around my waist, I also had a red bandanna that matched my belt around my head and tied under my sloppy bun.

Reiner had on a white vest that exposed his built, broad chest and jeans, boots and a bandanna to match mine. He also had a gold hoop ear ring.

After we got our things, we returned to the main deck. Our flag was waving rapidly in the wind, with its red and black colors, which had the letters 'B.R.A.' on it, wrote in red, on the black flag. Reiner has thought it looked cool at the time, but no one else did.

"They're getting closer, but I don't see anyone on the deck..." Bertholdt announced and walked to the front of our ship, eyeing the approaching ship.

"Maybe they're downstairs?" Reiner suggested, handing Bertholdt his pistol.

"Let's just go ahead and ambush them, then if they're there, they'll fight us." I suggested, preparing myself.

"Sounds good to me." Reiner replied and Bertholdt nodded in agreement.

Reiner was right, the two different colored wings on our rival's flag was the symbol of the Scouts. Our ship was really close to the other's now, and it even made a grinding noise as it brushed by their ship's side slightly.

"Go!" Bert commanded as we easily leaped over to the Scout's ship.

Boarding their ship, we looked around for any signs of people. "They should know we're here, we just rubbed against their ship..." Reiner pointed out, scanning the empty deck.

Right then, we heard running footsteps coming from the hall. "They're comin', be ready!" Bertholdt announced while he and Reiner pulled out their weapons, ready to fight.

"Hey Jean, it's the Warriors!" one boy who had his head shaved exclaimed.

"You bet we are, egg-head!" I shouted in response, teasing him, "Where's yer captain?"

"Captain, we have company!" his taller friend with a frosty colored undercut shouted.

As if on cue, a man with a blonde undercut stepped out. He was dressed like the captain, and had his right hand replaced by a hook. "So you're the warriors eh? What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? We want your treasure!" Reiner said, pulling out his swords. "And we heard you know where the Coordinate Island is!"

"Well then..." he replied, as more boys came out from the downstairs, "You'll just have to fight us for it."

With those last words, everyone began fighting. Bertholdt and Reiner were busy handling the two men who ran the ship, the captain and one short man with a black undercut, plus the other boy who's name I overheard was Jean.

I looked to the two left, the one I nicknamed Egg-Head and another boy, with soft brown hair and an eyepatch covering his left eye, leaving a beautiful turquoise colored eye to be seen.

Why do so many pirates have eyepatches? I wondered to myself. What was he hiding under there? As a matter of fact, I don't even remember what's under Bertholdt's eye patch.

"Gonna fight me, boys?" I asked them teasingly, pulling out my Sickle and Chain, spinning it in circles.

"Let's get 'er, Eren!" the boy shouted as he and 'Eren' came running towards me. Easily with a few hits, I knocked both of them on their behinds, and I even left a few scratches on them from my weapon. Good job, Annie, I praised myself.

"Sorry boys, but that treasure is ours." I announced proudly as I stood up and made my way down the stairs of their ship. Coming to the hallway, I stopped at each door and taking a peek inside.

"Where do they keep their treasure...?" I asked myself as I spotted a boy coming out of one of the rooms with a blonde bowl hair cut. Aha!

"Heyy!" I said, making him flinch as he looked at me.

"W-who are you?" the blonde asked me, clutching the papers that were in his hands, which seems to just be a folded map, tighter.

"Why don't you tell me where yer treasure is, then we'll talk names..." I said and inched closer to him, causing him to drop the papers. "Wha-" he starting but was cut off by the ship rocking furiously and loud thunder clapping above.

"Huh?"

The ship had suddenly began rocking extremely off balance, and I couldn't hold out. My knees went weak from under me and I felt myself fall.

I slipped and hit my head on the wall, making my vision go dark and my consciousness fading. The last thing I saw was the blond boy quickly inching towards me.

* * *

 

**Third Person POV**

"It's a storm approachin'!" Jean yelled as the waves starting pushing against the boat furiously and thunder cracked loudly, followed by steaks of lightning in the distance.

"Oh no, our ship is driftin' away!" Reiner shouted as he pointed at the other ship drifting apart from the waves pushing it, "We have to go!"

"Okay." Bertholdt replied and glanced around the deck, "Annie must be on the ship already..."

"We'll get that treasure one day!" Reiner declared before retreating back to the ship with Bertholdt. Then both boys leaped to their boat before it drifted to far away.

"Ouch..." Connie complained as he looked at a few cuts across his arm, "She got me..."

"It's fine Connie." Eren replied, brushing some dirt off from his pants, "but damn, she's strong 'fer a woman... no wonder she's wanted by the Military Police."

"Well at least they didn't rob us, they were outnumbered anyways." Jean said and crossed his arms, watching the two men leave. After that, everyone went silent and started putting away their weapons.

"I say we drink tonight fellas, it's a full moon!" Captain Erwin announced cheerfully.

"Aye aye!" everyone cheered and laughed, but went quiet when they saw Armin come out from the lower deck.

"Uh... guys, we have a problem." Armin announced as he approached the deck, with an unconscious Annie in his arms.

"Hey, it's that woman!" Connie exclaimed.

"A woman...?" Jean questioned and scoffed, "No women on board! It's a rule."

"Yeah, feed 'er to the sharks!" Connie laughed.

"She got knocked out..." Armin informed everyone.

"Let's make 'er walk the plank." Jean smirked.

"Hmm..." Erwin said as he rubbed his stubbly chin and looked at her, "Let's wait till she wakes up... take 'er to the doctor."

"Sir... we don't have a doctor." Armin replied awkwardly.

"Well then take her to the lounge, Arlert!" Erwin commanded.

"Y-yes sir!" Armin stuttered and obeyed his orders, turning on his heels to leave the deck. He headed back down to the lower deck, with Annie in his arms.

The crew just watched him in silence, listening as the ship creaked under them.

 


	2. Woman on Board

**Annie's POV**

"Ughh..." I groaned, shifting uncomfortably. My head was throbbing. When I opened my eyes, I didn't recognize where I was.

"She's awake!" I heard someone yell, which made my headache worsen.

"Shut up! My heads killing me you bastard..." I started, but trailed off when I recognized who was talking. It was Eren, who was now suddenly picking me up. He roughly slung my over his shoulder and began walking.

"Hey, put me down!" I demanded, but his grip only got tighter around me as I squirmed. "Captain wanted me to bring ya to him when ya woke up!" he informed me, opening the door and walking into the hall and up the steps to what seemed to be the main deck. The sun was shining incredibly bright, blinding me. It also made my headache worsen.

Wait how long did I black out?! It wasn't this early before!

"Hey... how long was I out?"

"Not too long, only a day. It's mornin' again." he answered as he sat me down. I tried turning around, only to realize that my hands were tied, same with my feet!

What! When did that happen?

"Untie me!" I demanded and tried wiggling out of the ropes.

"You..." a man's voice behind me spoke, "Yer on our ship, eh?"

Eren turned me around to see the captain. He wasn't as scary as I had first thought.

"Yeah, got a problem?" I asked. I wanted off this stupid ship.

"Well we have a rule with woman on board..." he said and crossed his arms across his broad chest, "It's that we have none."

" _And?_ " I raised an eyebrow.

"Well... we don't know what to do with ya!" he informed me and looked to his crew, letting out a sigh, "What would you guys like to do?"

"Like I said, make 'er walk the plank!" Jean said and smirked.

"I don't care." Eren meekly said and sighed.

"Lets leave 'er on an island!" Connie said.

"Hey!"

"Hmm... let's keep her, she looks nice." The blond one said and smiled innocently, which made the crew stare at him.

"Armin, she's a pirate, not a pet..." Jean informed him, "And she's pretty vicious. Have you not heard of the Warriors?!"

Armin just shrugged.

Everyone then turned to the captain who was scratching his neck with his hook. "Well we can't just kill ya or leave ya somewhere. So ya have two options... ya could either walk the plank, or ya could join us, which is it?"

"Wait a minute," I began, "Where's my crew?"

"They left already, their ship was drifting and I guess they thought you were already on it." he replied, tilting his head, "So, yer choice...?"

_Great, just great._

"I guess... I'll stay." I decided and sighed. I mean I didn't want to die. Well, not here anyways.

"Ah man!" Jean complained, "But, she's a woman!"

"Is there a problem with that?" I asked in an annoyed tone. He was getting on my last nerve.

"U-uh no... but can ya at least cook?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Clean?" he questioned again.

"Maybe...?"

"What kind of woman is this..." he asked himself quietly, shaking his head.

"Okay then..." the captain said, "What's yer name again?"

"Annie." I answered, not revealing anything else, "Now could ya untie me?!"

"Oh right, Eren, untie 'er." he commanded.

"Yes sir." Eren said and cut the ropes that bound my wrists, "Don't... try anything stupid."

"Whatever..." I said and stretched out my cramped limbs. It felt like I've been tied up for ages.

"Oh, another thing..." the captain said, "We don't have enough rooms... so you'll have to share with someone."

"Who?" I asked in response.

"Hmm..." he hummed, scanning the crew members, "Eren, do you share a room with anyone?"

"No sir." Eren replied.

"Then you'll share with Annie now." he informed him, "Now, everyone get to yer duties! Oh and Eren, show this young lady around the ship."

"Okay..." Eren mumbled. He didn't seem too excited. Then again, neither was I.

With that the crew scattered out, attending to whatever they needed. "So it's really men only on this ship?" I asked Eren, who was glancing at me.

"Yep, until now." he replied, "So want a tour? I'll also properly introduce you to everyone I guess."

I nodded in response and followed him to the hall of rooms. He went to the very end and twisted the doorknob and stepped inside. The room was big and had a table with a few chairs around. There was a big map on the wall, some books on a bookshelf, and some tools scattered around.

"This is the meeting room, where we make plans and decide where to set sail. Armin and Captain Erwin work n' here, since they're both the smartest outta all of us."

"Okay." I replied as we watched the blonde, who was called Armin walk in.

"That's Armin." Eren informed me as Armin walked up to me, with books in his hand.

"Hi!" He greeted, moving his books in one arm. Then he held out his hand for me to shake. I hesitated at the gesture at first, but took it. I nodded a 'hello' and pulled my hand away.

"Next..." Eren said as he lead me to the next room, "This is the washroom."

He opened the door to reveal a small room, with a small shower and sink, and a toilet. It seemed pretty clean, surprisingly. "Who cleans around here?" I decided to ask.

"Levi." he replied and closed the door back. I don't know Levi, but I guess I will later.

"And this is the kitchen." he said and lead me into another room, "Jean is the cook. Surprisingly he can cook pretty good."

The kitchen looks decent, there is lots of food stored up and they had clean silverware. "Hmph." Jean mumbled and then turned back to his cooking, which was just making sandwiches. Eren then lead me down the hallway again to another room.

"The dining hall." he informed as he walked into the room. It was big and had a table in the middle, with barrels around it, used for chairs I suppose. Following him back out, he turned around to face me.

Walking past another door, he spoke up. "That's the lounge, you've been in there already."

"This is... our room." he said and turned back round and opened another door. It revealed to be a regular sized room with a dresser, a single bed with a nightstand with a lantern sitting on top of it. There was also a window, like the ones in the other rooms.

My room on my ship is way better than this... I mentally pointed out. I continued to follow Eren, glancing at all the things they had on the wall. Not watching where I was going, I bumped into a short man, around my size, with a black undercut and an eye patch over his right eye.

"Uh... sorry." I apologized to the man, who was just standing there, looking at me with a vague expression.

"That's Levi." Eren informed me.

"Oh... Well, hello..." I said awkwardly. He gave me a nod then walked on, minding his own business.

"That's Captain's office." Eren said and pointed at a door. I gave a small nod.

"The other rooms belong to everyone else." he said and sighed, "Ya can find yer way around here good enough by now. Make yourself at home... I guess."

"Okay then."

"Well lunch is in a little while, see ya Annie." Eren said, then turned to go elsewhere.

_So he's just gonna leave me here? What do I do...?_

I gave a sigh, then headed back up to the main deck. The sun was warm on my face, making me feel sleepy. My head was still throbbing, just not as much as earlier. I sat down against the side of the ship, and slowly let my eye lids shut. I got so comfy that I started to doze off.

The last thing I heard before falling asleep was the sound of the ocean waves crashing under the ship.

 


	3. Missing

**Third Person POV**

When Reiner and Bertholdt got back from the S.S. Scout, they had searched every room for Annie, but had no luck with finding her.

"I thought she was already on here..." Bertholdt said, walking up to Reiner, who was just getting back from searching the rooms. Then, Bertholdt started pacing back and fourth. The Scouts ship had already drifted a good distance away from theirs, due to the strong winds from the storm.

"You don't think they kidnapped 'er... do you?" Bertholdt asked his best friend in a worried tone.

"I don't know..." Reiner answered, looking down at the floor. "They are some of the most ruthless pirates on the seven seas, next to us that is."

"What if they torture 'er or something... o-or, turn 'er in to the Military Police?!" Bertholdt asked, wide eyed, "Our rewards are so high now... t-they'll _execute_ her!"

"Stop worrying so much, I'm sure she's fine..." Reiner assured, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Reiner could tell the poor boy was about to have a panic attack. Bertholdt looked over at him.

"Yeah..." he sighed. "I hope."

"Anyways, I know what we can do if they do have her kidnapped, which they probably do." Reiner said, pulling something from his pants pocket. He had a mischievous grin plastered on his lips. 

"What?" Bertholdt questioned, watching as Reiner pulled out several papers. He unfolded them, revealing several handwritten letters.

"They have a lot of stuff about Shiganshina..." Reiner pointed out, "That one boy with an eye-patch dropped these. I managed to pick them up with he was distracted."

"Oh yeah, Shiganshina, we've been there before." Bertholdt pointed out. "We... ran from there, like we did with a lot of villages."

"There's several letters, from a family there. The Jaeger's." Reiner said, then continued, "This 'Mikasa' girl seems to be very close to the boy, Eren, I'm assuming his name is."

"So, you're saying we... kidnap her?"

"Yep." Reiner answered. "We'll give them Mikasa, and they'll have to give us Annie. _And_ the coordinate."

"Oh yeah, they are rumored to have the coordinate. I'm guessing the map to the abandoned island?" Bertholdt replied, crossing his arms. "This might work..."

Reiner nodded. "So, next stop, Shiganshina?"

Bertholdt gave a nod in return.

Then, he went down onto the lower decks to retrieve a map, to help him navigate the ship. When he was ready, he got behind the steering wheel and navigated them to their next destination; Shiganshina.

 


	4. Port

**Eren's POV**

"Lunch is ready!" I heard Jean's annoying voice chime from below. Climbing down the ladder of the crow's nest, I got back to the deck and made my way to the dining room. On my way, I happened to see Annie, sleeping on the deck. Sighing, I approached her and poked her cheek.

"Hey... wake up." I commanded and poked her again, but still she didn't wake up. This time I nudged her shoulder, causing her wake up this time. She moaned sleepily as she slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. "Lunch is ready, come on." I informed her and waited for her to stand up.

"Okay..." she replied and helped herself up. She followed me into the dining room and looked towards me. "Where do I sit?"

"Um... you can sit beside me, I guess." I suggested and sat down in my usual seat. She sat in the seat next to me and put her hands in her lap. Moments later, Jean was setting the table.

After everyone was here and had their plates, we began eating the sandwiches Jean had made. We finished and stacked our plates up, handing them to Jean to go clean.

"So, what do we do fer fun on here?" she asked me as we stood up.

"I don't know, I heard that today we're stopping at the closest port to repair the ship." I replied and walked out to the deck beside her.

"Good, I haven't been on land in a while." she replied and sat down, looking out at the sea. The ocean was reflecting off her crystal blue eyes; it looked beautiful. She doesn't seem as mean as people say she is.

"Me either." I replied, sitting down beside her.

Then it got quiet between us, besides the sound of waves from below and the ship creaking. "So... tell me about yerself." I decided to speak up.

"Oh... I'm not really interesting." she assured and pushed her blonde bangs out of her face, but it did no good; the wind continued to whip her blonde hair back in her face.

"Well... where did ya grow up?" I decided to ask. She didn't seem very social, but maybe I could change that.

"I honestly don't remember, I ran away from home." she answered quietly, glancing at me.

"Yer a runaway?!" I asked, surprised.

She gave a nod and wrapped her arms around her knees, then changed the subject. "So um... did Reiner and Bert say anything before they left? Like if they would come back?"

"Well they said they'd come back fer our treasure, but they'll probably come back fer ya now..." I informed her. "Are you guys close?"

"Ah, okay." she said and sighed. "Yeah, we've been friends since we were kids."

"Hey, I see land! It's the port!" I heard Connie announce from the crow's nest, before I could say anything else. I wanted to learn more about her. I was curious.

Who was she? Where is she from? Why'd she become a pirate? All kinds of questions ran through my mind. I don't know why, I just enjoyed learning about people.

"Good eye, Springer!" Erwin praised. We both watched as Erwin went up to the steering wheel and twisted it, causing the ship to turn.

"Don't you think people will be suspicious when a huge pirate ship pulls up?!" Annie exclaimed.

"It's never concerned anyone the other times." Erwin said and chuckled.

"Okay then... just hope we don't get caught by the navy." she replied and crossed her arms over her chest.

"The who?" Levi replied as he approached the deck, "Oh, you mean the Military Police..."

"Oh yeah, those pests..." Erwin mumbled loud enough to be heard. With a quick thrust at the wheel, the ship came to a stop. "Land ho!"

We all left our vessel and took a glance at its side, which had been scratched from where the S.S. Warrior had grazed it. It was also slightly cracked at the top of the side. "Damn, she looks rough." Erwin commented, eyeing the ship damage.

"They even ripped our flag..." Connie added, looking at the tears in the flag above that was flapping in the wind.

Annie just averted her gaze from everyone.

"Okay well... we're going to have to split it in groups," Erwin decided, "Levi and Jean, go stock up on things we need. Eren and Annie, go find us someone to repair our ship. Armin and Connie, go cash in this money here." he said and tossed a sack of what looked like coins to Connie.

"Aye aye sir!" everyone replied and got with their partners.

"Okay so... where should we look first?" Annie asked me as she got closer to me.

"Let's just walk around this town, maybe try a few places..." I replied and began walking down the path that had buildings lined up on the sides. It seems to be a nice little town, with shops and places to eat, some homes and much more.

"Let's try in here..." Annie said as she pointed to a nearby bar.

"Alright." I said and followed her inside the place. It was a tad dark and reeked of alcohol. "So, who should we ask?"

"I got this." she informed quietly and climbed up on a table, then stood up. A few guys whistled, probably thinking she was going to dance for them or something.

"What the hell are ya doing?" I asked, but didn't receive a response from her.

"Hey!" she yelled, gaining everyone's attention, resting her hands on her hips, "Are there any men in here who can repair a ship?"

After a few seconds of silence, a voice could be heard towards the back. "I can!"

"Great." Annie commented, then looked down at me, "Help me down, will ya?"

"Okay." I sighed and offered my hand, helping her leap down from the table. Then, the man walked over to us. He had dark brown hair, which was styled in an undercut, and he had freckles spread across his face.

"I'm Marco." he introduced himself, holding out his hand, offering to shake ours. We both shook his hand, "I'm Eren, and this is Annie." I introduced both of us.

"So, you need me to repair your ship?" Marco asked as we lead him out of the bar, and out onto the streets.

"Yeah..." I answered, "It's not too far from here."

We walked back to the port, where our ship was located. "This.... is your ship?" Marco asked, scanning the pirate ship with wide eyes.

"Yup." I replied, looking at him, "So, you can fix it?"

"I didn't realize you were pirates... but sure, i can fix it. It'll cost though." Marco responded, "Let me go get some tools."

"Alright, thanks!" I thanked him, watching as he jogged down the street, to go get some tools. After that, me and Annie just stood there in silence, waiting for his return. When he did return, he got straight to work, repairing the ship.

It was around noon and me and Annie decided to sit on a bench near the port, while Marco fixed the ship. I could feel the sunlight heating my skin, as it beat down on us from above. We waited until he was finished.

Later, the sun started setting in the sky, as it slowly began turning shades of pink mixed with orange. The sun was setting on the horizon.

"I think I'm done!" Marco announced, rubbing the sweat from his forehead with his arm. "Wow, it looks good!" I commented. He was good at whatever he did.

"Woah, she's lookin' good." Captain Erwin admired the ship as he approached us, from wherever he went, "How much do we owe ya?"

"Well, I was actually thinking..." Marco started, "Do you think you could take me somewhere?"

"Well sure, if it pays for the ships repairs!" Captain replied, "Where is it ya wanna go?"

"Trost." Marco answered.

"Alright then, that'll be one of our stops soon, welcome aboard Marco!" Captain said, patting him on the back. Then, as everyone got here, we all boarded the ship, waiting for Marco go get his things to take with him.

When he returned later that night, we left the port without any trouble.

 


	5. Unwanted

**Third Person POV**

"Let's throw a party fer our two new members!" Erwin suggested after we left the port.

"Yeah!" Jean agreed, "I can make food!"

"A feast!" Connie added, "And we can make cake too!"

"I don't think I can make cake." Jean sighed, "Sorry, bud."

"I can." Annie quietly informed, from behind the two.

"Alright!" Connie exclaimed. "She is good for somethin'!" 

After that, Jean began working on the food while Annie started on the cake. When they both finished, everyone dug in to the food.

"This is good." Jean complimented, as he took a bite of the cake, "I didn't think ya could cook."

Annie just shrugged, already finished with her meal. Everyone else ate, complimenting the meal and chatting. After everyone finished, they brought the party to the deck, along with some booze for the captain, since almost everyone else was still underage.

Everyone was having a good time.

Well, _almost_ everyone.

**Annie's POV**

Sighing, I left the party, going to the side of the ship, looking around. There were lifeboats placed on the side of the ship. I wondered if I could sneak away in one of them.

I wasn't wanted here anyways, and I didn't want to be here either. We also weren't that far from the port we left...

"Leavin'?"

Startled by a sudden voice, I turned around to see Eren. I just turned back around and shrugged, as he approached me, coming up beside me. Then, he handed me a pocket knife.

"Huh?"

"Well, If ya want to leave, go ahead, I'm not stoppin' ya." he replied. Then I understood what he meant, the knife was to cut the boat free from the ropes, which were holding it up.

I nodded, then began cutting my way through one of the thick ropes. He watched, as I cut more ropes free.

I wasn't sure why he was helping me sneak away, but I did appreciated it. I wouldn't admit that though, I hate admitting things like that.

As I was on the last rope, I was ready to climb in, until the entire ship began swaying, followed by a loud noise.

**CRASH!**

"We're under attack!" someone on the front deck yelled. Before I knew it, the boat was free, but I could feel myself beginning to lose my balance.

"Annie!"

As I went overboard, I felt a strong hand grab mine; before I got out of reach. "Hold on..." he groaned, as he struggled to pull me up. With his and my help, I was pulled back onto the ship, leaving the life boat to fall into the water, without me in it.

"Thanks..." I said, catching my breath.

"Let's go, we're being attacked!" he said as he stood up, then grabbed a nearby sword that he must have dropped earlier. I grabbed the pocket knife he had let me use and followed close behind him, to the deck, where we were in battle.

"Hey, they got a woman!" one of the men sneered, looking in my direction. Then, he began inching towards me. Quickly, I got into a fighting stance, ready to defend myself.

"Annie, go hide!" I heard Eren call, as he had his sword against someone else's, pushing them off the side of the ship, overboard.

"Why?!" I exclaimed in response, slashing the man's torso with the pocket knife, then knocked him away from me as more men came over. One tried grabbing me but luckily I acted fast enough to kick him in the gut, and throw him overboard. I didn't care if I killed him, I did what would keep me alive.

Kill or be killed.

"Because yer gonna get hurt!" Eren yelled in response, making his way quickly over to me.

Get hurt? Does he think I can't handle this by myself?

"I'm fine." I insisted, "Don't worry about me. I can handle myself."

"Right..." he said, then something seemed to have caught his attention quickly, "Hey, watch out!"

Then, I felt a fist come from the side and catch me off guard, hitting me right in the eye, most likely leaving a bruise. "Heybitch, that was my friend ya threw overboard!" the man cursed at me as I turned around to face him. Then, I returned the favor, but instead, I knocked the man on his back, earning a yelp from him as his back hit the floor.

"Don't touch me." I warned before kicking him in the ribs, ignoring my now throbbing eye and headache that was coming on.

* * *

After a while of fighting, the attackers finally retreated back to their ship, in defeat, as lots of them were now wounded or dead.

"That was a surprise..." Jean said, breaking the silence as we watched the ship leave, "Hey Annie, what happened to yer eye?" he asked, pointing out my bruised eye. There were probably many other bruises and cuts on my skin, but I didn't bother to look or care for them.

"I got punched." I answered and sighed, "Does it look that bad?"

"Well I couldn't notice it at first since yer bangs were in the way, but it's not that bad." Jean replied, "Looks like it hurt though."

"Yer an awesome fighter, where'd you learn to fight?" Eren asked in awe. He seemed interested all of a sudden.

"I taught myself." I simply answered. 

"You're amazing, Miss Annie." Armin commented.

"Thanks, and drop the 'miss', will ya?" I replied, but he didn't seem to hear me as the captain came over.

"Arlert, is there any damage to the ship?" Captain asked Armin.

"No sir." Armin replied, "I checked already."

"Alright, good." Captain sighed a breath of relief, "Well I'm tired, we should get to bed, it's late."

With that, everyone was heading for their rooms. Well, everyone except me.

"Hey, you comin'?" Eren asked, from beside me. I didn't even realize he was there. "I guess..." I replied, following him to our room.

When we got there, he looked around, and seemed to be in thought, looking at the one single bed in the room and back to me.

"Here." he said and pulled some blankets and a pillow out from a dresser drawer, "You can have the bed."

"No, it's your room. You sleep on the bed." I insisted, shaking my head.

"No, yer a woman, so take the bed." he said and started to lay out some blankets on the floor.

"But it's wrong for me to take the bed, it's your room." I replied, feeling the argument coming on.

"Just take it!"

"Fine." I sighed, making my way to the bed.

"Good, now goodnight." he said, placing the pillow down and blowing out the lantern, which was the only thing keeping the room lit. Then, I heard him shuffle around in the blankets, stopping when he seemed to get comfortable. Then, I decided to get comfortable as well, slipping under the covers of the bed.

"...Thanks." I thanked him, just above a whisper.

"What was that?" he asked from the floor.

"Nothin'." I replied, turning my back to him, listening to the silence of the ship and the calm ocean waves. After a few moments passed, he spoke up again, in a whisper as well.

"You're welcome."

 


	6. Kidnapped

**Third Person POV**

Two days after they discovered that Annie was missing, the S.S. Warrior had arrived at the closest port of Shiganshina. When Reiner and Bertholdt left their vessel, they had to be very careful.

Shiganshina was one of the villages they had been to before, and they both were some of the most wanted by the Navy. So, they put their threatening flag down, and dressed slightly more casual in order to look less suspicious. However; they still carried their weapons just in case something went wrong. When they were ready, they searched for Mikasa Ackerman, who apparently worked in a bar close by, as they had read from the letters.

Walking down the streets, a few people gave them both dirty looks. They both discovered that their faces, including Annie's, were on several 'WANTED' posters, that were hanging on store windows and posts.

They finally made their way to the bar, and walked in the door with hope of finding the girl. They scanned the inside of the place, looking at everyone's faces.

"Is there a Mikasa Ackerman in here?" Reiner decided to loudly announce. Bertholdt sighed, since now all attention had been drawn to them. Everyone got a little quieter and looked in their direction.

"It's the Warriors...!" one girl gasped, who was sitting at a table, drinking with several other girls.

"Their heads are worth millions!" one man shouted, slamming his glass on the table he was sitting at.

"Right here..." a raven haired girl quietly responded. Reiner took notice of her appearance. She was wearing casual clothes and a small apron, along with a blood red scarf that was wrapped around her neck. She was behind the counter, serving a man who was sitting on the other side on a stool a glass of beer.

Reiner and Bertholdt made their way over towards her in silence, most of everyone's eyes on them as they did so.

"Hey, what do you two pirates think you're doing in my bar?!" A man, who seemed to be the manager, asked as he came from a door behind the counter.

"Mr. Hannes, it's the Warriors!" another worker informed him.

"Yer comin' with us." Reiner said towards Mikasa, more as a statement than a question.

"Excuse me, what?" Mikasa questioned, confused, "I'm not-"

_**CLACK!** _

Everyone's eyes were now on Bertholdt, who had just pulled out his pistol. Reiner also started to reach for one of his swords.

"He's got a gun!" A girl screamed. Some of the people were rushing out of the bar while some were hiding under tables.

One man started trying to attack Reiner, but Reiner reacted quickly, throwing the guy over his shoulder. "You get Mikasa, I'll hold 'em back!" Reiner informed Bertholdt as more guys come over.

Bertholdt gave a nod and then leapt over the counter top, going in Mikasa's direction.

"Stay the hell away from me!" Mikasa exclaimed, backing up. But, there was lots of shelves behind her, so she had nowhere to go. 

Hannes tried to stop him, but was just pushed to the ground. Bertholdt struggled to grab a hold of Mikasa, since she was putting up a big fight. She was _really_ good at self defense. Bertholdt was mad at himself for underestimating her. 

Finally, Bertholdt managed to catch her off guard and toss her over his shoulder. She kicked her legs and punched him harshly on the back. "Let me go!" she demanded.

"I've got 'er!" Bertholdt informed Reiner who was still fighting a few guys. Reiner joined over to him and they quickly darted out of the bar, with Mikasa over Bertholdt's shoulder.

"The Navy will probably be here any minute, let's hurry!" Reiner shouted. Bertholdt followed behind him as they made their way back to the ship.

"Let me... go!" Mikasa continued to hit on Bertholdt, trying desperately to get free. After a while, she exhausted herself.

"Here." Reiner said as he found an empty barrel on the side of the street they were running down. "Nobody is around, and this will probably be easier and less suspicious."

Bertholdt sighed, "Sorry about this."

"Huh?" was Mikasa's only response as she was then dropped into a barrel. "Hey!"

"We're close to the ship, we can roll 'er there without being caught hopefully." Reiner said and closed the lid of the barrel. Bertholdt gave a nod, then they both began to roll the barrel towards the ship.

Mikasa went silent, so they guessed that she hit her head and got knocked out.

They successfully rolled the barrel onto the ship without drawing much attention. When they were ready, they left the port as quick as possible.

 


	7. Storm

**Third Person POV**

"Hey, wake up!" Eren announced in Annie's ear, causing her to roll out of the bed and onto the hard wooden floor with a thud.

"Ow!" she cried in response, then helped herself up. "I'm up... how early do ya guys wake up?"

"Pretty early." Eren replied, motioning for her to follow him, "Now come on, breakfast is ready."

Annie just nodded and followed him down the hall, not bothering to fix her appearance. Her cuts and bruises were surprisingly almost completely healed, along with her blackened eye, while the rest of the crew's hadn't yet.

"I made eggs." Jean announced as they got into the dining room and they took their seats, being offered food. Then, everyone began eating their breakfast.

"Wow Annie, your injuries are already healed..." Armin spoke up, studying her face and bare arms. She just shrugged and continued with her meal, while the others were also eating.

"Just like Eren." Jean scoffed, getting Annie's attention, "He heals in days, lucky bastard."

"Not fair." Connie pouted as he took a sip from his drink. Annie just glanced at Eren before he caught her stare, then she turned her attention back to her food. She seemed to be in thought, before she took her dirty dish and put it up to be cleaned.

"How do you heal so quickly?" Armin asked Annie, getting her attention before she left the table. She sighed, hesitating to answer, but decided to answer it.

"That's my business."

"Oh..." Armin sighed, "Okay."

Then she turned back around, going elsewhere.

"She's strange." Jean commented as he put his plate up.

"Agreed." Connie replied. 

"Give her a break guys, she didn't want to be here in the first place." Eren spoke up, putting his plate up as well.

"Well then, maybe she should go back to wherever she came from." Jean snickered and followed Connie to the kitchen, with a pile of dishes, since it was their turn to do dishes. Eren just rolled his eyes and sighed, going up to the main deck, where most of everyone else was.

The sky was very gloomy and cloudy; it was bound to start storming any second. The wind was also awfully strong. The waves were getting a bit wild.

"This may delay our arrival in Trost." Captain Erwin informed the crew.

"That's fine..." Marco replied, "It's getting cold out."

"Yeah, we should go-" Captain Erwin started, but was cut off by the sound of a sudden large wave, which rocked the entire ship furiously.

"Eren!"

"Jean!"

The two boys, which were near the side, was slung overboard from the impact of the wave. Luckily, Jean was able to catch the side of the ship before he fell, but Eren didn't, he was heading for the deep, dark blue water below.

"Oh no! Eren can't swim!" Armin cried, looking over the side of the ship.

" _What?!_ What kind of pirate can't swim?!" Annie exclaimed.

"Obviously Eren!" Connie said, as he struggled at first, but managed to pull Jean back up over the side.

"I'll... get 'em...." Annie decided. With that, she jumped in after him, plummeting into the ocean below. After a few short moments, she managed to grab ahold of him, and she reached the surface of the water just in time.

"Pull us up, quick!"

The crew cast out a life ring, and Annie grabbed on it she was while still holding on to Eren. They successfully pulled them both up, and they all crowded around the two. She laid Eren down and sat on her knees, catching her breath.

"He's not breathin'!" Connie exclaimed.

"Anyone know CPR?" Armin asked, receiving all but one answer.

"I do." Annie sighed, feeling regret as soon as the words left her mouth. She didn't want her first kiss, if this would even count as one, to be stolen by some idiotic boy who couldn't swim.

"Do it before he dies!" Jean yelled, "I may hate 'em, but I don't want to see 'em die either!"

"Technically, when you're not breathing, you're already dead-" Armin started, but Connie stopped him before he could finish his sentence.

"Alright..." Annie sighed, removing his soaked shirt out of the way and placing her hands in the correct position on his chest, then giving him compressions and placing her mouth on his to give breaths.

Finally, Eren had a cough attack, getting the water out of his lungs.

"Thank God..." Armin sighed a breath of relief.

"Way to go Annie, ya saved someone's life!" Connie praised her.

 _That's a first_ , she thought to herself.

After that, Eren had help getting back to his room to rest, and the rest of the crew just carried on as normal. The sky was clearing up a bit, and they continued on their way to Trost.

 


	8. Colds and Barrels

**Third Person POV**

After Eren had fell in the ocean yesterday, he had gotten a cold. He also hit his head on something, and had a bandage wrapped around his head. Annie and Armin helped him get better, with the help of Jean also who had made him some soup.

Annie also mentioned nothing of giving him CPR, and neither did Eren.

"Eat it!" Annie demanded, sitting beside his bed, trying to feed him the soup Jean made. Eren was refusing to eat.

Eren just turned his face the other way, "I don't wanna."

"Stop acting like a child, and eat the damn soup." she growled in response, "Or else."

"Or else what?" he sniffled, earning a small giggle from the blonde.

"Aw, does lil' Eren have da sniffles?" She teased, then sighed, getting serious again. He just narrowed his eyes at her, pushing the bowl away from him. 

"I will force it down yer throat, one way or another." she threatened, staring daggers at him.

"Yeah right." he laughed and had a coughing fit afterwards.

While he had his mouth open, Annie leaned in and took her chance, shoving the spoon in his mouth, then she pulled it back out and quickly clamped his mouth shut.

He coughed, then looked back at her. "Shall I continue?"

"Ugh..." Eren groaned, "Fine, I'll eat it."

"Promise?"

"Yeah yeah..." he replied and took the bowl from her hands, then slowly began eating it. When he was done, he handed her the bowl.

"Thanks..." he thanked her before she left.

"Whatever." she replied before leaving the room, to go put the empty bowl up.

* * *

 

A few days later, Eren had quickly recovered and gotten better and they were still not at Trost yet. They were beginning to think they were lost.

"We're gonna stop at this town on the way... I think it's called Stohess?" Captain Erwin announced, as everyone looked over the side of the ship, towards a town they were approaching.

"Yeah, I think that's it." Armin replied, double checking the map he had in his hands.

"We'll just stock up while we're there." Captain Erwin replied. Everyone agreed and went back to whatever it was they were doing.

"Land ho!" Captain Erwin announced as they came to the port, "Jean, Armin and Marco, go stock up on supplies."

"Aye aye!"

"Annie and Eren, go help them carry barrels and crates I guess." he added.

"Alright." Annie sighed and Eren nodded. With that, the group left for supplies.

* * *

"This one's heavy..." Eren complained as he rolled a barrel to the ship, while Annie was carrying two crates.

"Quit complainin'" Annie replied, "Wanna switch?"

"Why not." he sighed and switched with her, passing her the barrel while she handed him the crates.

"What the hell is in this one?" she said as she felt the heaviness of the barrel. "Bricks?!"

"Booze apparently." he replied as they got to the ship, "Thank God these are our last ones."

"Yeah." she replied as they rolled the barrel onto the ship, along with Eren carrying crates.

"Great job!" Captain Erwin praised the group.

"I got some good food materials." Jean said proudly, a smile on his face.

"Good." Captain Erwin replied, "It's almost time fer dinner, and I'm starvin'."

Everyone agreed and Jean went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and Armin went to navigate towards Trost.

"This the booze?" Captain Erwin asked as he approached the last barrel we transported.

"Yep, it was heavy too." Eren answered.

"Lets see..." Captain Erwin said, going to get a crowbar. He came back with one and popped the lid right off. When he saw what was inside his expression changed. "Uhh..."

"What is it?" Eren asked.

Levi looked into the barrel and his eye slightly widened, "Since when did booze turn into women?!" he exclaimed.

"Huh?" Eren asked, taking a look. Inside was a woman, maybe older than Annie, with reddish brown hair and glasses. She was wearing regular civilian clothes.

"Ugh..." she mumbled from inside, slowly opening her eyes which were behind her glasses, "Where am I?"

"Uh, the better question is, why the hell were ya in a barrel...?" Captain Erwin asked in response.

"Help me out and I'll tell you." she replied, and with Levi and Captain Erwin's help, she got out of the barrel. She stumbled a bit, but finally caught her balance, then began introducing herself.

"I'm Hange... and I was just working normally at my job, as a doctor, when some thugs came into my clinic and began harassing some of the workers, including me..." she started and continued, "So when they began getting violent I ran away and was told to hide in a barrel, which I found at the port, and now I'm here... wherever this is."

"Well, yer on the S.S. Scout, welcome aboard." Captain Erwin welcomed nervously.

"A pirate ship!?" Hange exclaimed, ignoring her headache, "I've always wanted to be on one!"

"Ya said ya were a doctor, yeah?" Captain Erwin asked, "We've needed a doctor fer ages, but we never could find one."

"Doctor Zoe, at your service!" she greeted happily, holding out a hand for him to shake, which he took.

"She's too perky..." Levi complained, rubbing his temples with his middle and index fingers. "Givin' me a headache."

"Aw, well aren't you grumpy, short stuff?" she teased the shorter man, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"U-uh Hange..." Eren started, looking at how Levi was now glaring sharply at her.

"Okie dokie then..." she said nervously, removing her arm quickly, "Where do I stay?"

"Ya can bunk with Levi, I'm sure he wont mind," Captain Erwin began and smiled, ignoring the middle finger he earned from Levi, "And I'll show ya the doctor's quarters..."

With that, him and Hange left to go tour around the ship.

After dinner was ready and eaten by the crew, everyone returned to their rooms and went to sleep, as the ship continued to sail the sea.

 


	9. New

**Third Person POV**

A few hours after the S.S. Warrior left the port of Shiganshina, Mikasa had started to wake up. She had her wrists and ankles bound with rope, and she was lying on a small bed in an unknown room. She also noticed that she had a bandage wrapped around her head.

A few short moments later, Reiner walked into the room. "Hey, yer awake."

"Where am I?!" Mikasa exclaimed, demanding an answer. "And why did you kidnap me?!"

After hearing some commotion, Bertholdt walked in the room. "Here, he can explain," Reiner nervously said as he quickly left the room, leaving Bertholdt to talk to her. Bertholdt just narrowed his eye at Reiner's back as he left.

Mikasa stared at him. He looked slightly scary, with mostly black clothes on. He sighed, "Yer close to Eren Jaeger, right?"

Mikasa gave a short nod. "Well, a few days ago we came across his ship and we decided to ambush them. But out of nowhere, a storm appeared," he started, "So, we left their ship. But when we got back, Annie was missing. So we came to the conclusion that she was kidnapped by them."

"Okay... so, where do I come into this?" she questioned.

"We thought that if we have something that's important to them, which is you, they'll hafta give us Annie back. Along with something else they have that we want."

Mikasa went silent for a few moments, then decided to speak up. "So... what are you guys going to do with me?"

"I guess just keep you here on our ship until we find the Scouts again." he answered. "Like a crew member."

Mikasa gave a short breath of relief. She easily remembers the last time she was kidnapped, when she was about to be sold as a slave by those human traffickers. This time she was afraid of something worse, seeing that two of the most ruthless pirates on the seven seas had kidnapped her this time.

Reiner came back in the room after a few more moments of silence between the two. "Dinner's ready."

Bertholdt gave a nod, then looked over in Mikasa's direction. "Are you going to try to attack us?" Reiner asked.

"No." Mikasa simply answered. Bertholdt went over and carefully untied the ropes on her wrists and ankles, trying not to hurt her. "Thanks..." she thanked him and stood up from the bed. She looked around the room. There was a small bed, with a small table beside of it and a few cabinets on the wall opposite of the bed and table. It seems to be a doctor's quarters.

Mikasa followed the two out of the room and where they had dinner. She was starving. Glancing around at her surroundings, she realized how new this was to her. She'd have to get used to it for a while.

"So..." Mikasa spoke up as they came into the dining room. "You two are part of the Warriors..."

"Yep." Reiner spoke up and motioned towards a seat for Mikasa to sit at. She slowly made her way over and sat in the small wooden chair. "Are we known around there or somethin'?" he asked.

"Yeah... our citizens are quite fond of you guys." Mikasa replied. They understood why, Shiganshina was one of the towns they used to terrorize when they were younger.

"Wow." Reiner said as he set the plates down on the table. Him and Bertholdt both sat down next to each other, across from Mikasa.

Mikasa nodded, eyeing her food. It was a bowl of what looked like vegetable soup and some bread, along with a glass of water. "We need to stock up on food later, we're runnin' a bit low." Reiner noted.

"So, how are you and Eren close?" Reiner decided to ask her as he took a bite of his bread.

Mikasa was taken aback from this question for a moment. She wasn't exactly sure how to explain. "We're... childhood friends." she answered, not mentioning anything else.

"Hey, wait a minute," Mikasa began, "How did you guys know that I was close to him?" 

"He had dropped some letters that you two were exchanging." Reiner answered, "And I happened to find them. That's how we found you."

"Oh..." she replied, slightly embarrassed that they had seen the letters.

"You seem to care about him a lot." Bertholdt spoke up as he finished his meal.

Mikasa just shrugged her shoulders, averting her eyes from either of them. It was true; she does care deeply for him. Who wouldn't? He had saved her life after all.

"Well, I'm goin' to bed. If you need me I'll be in my room." Reiner announced as he left the room. Bertholdt just stood up from his seat and gathered the dirty plates.

"Um..." Mikasa said quietly, not sure what to do. She got up and followed Bertholdt to wherever he was going.

"I guess you can stay in Annie's room since she's not here, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Bertholdt suggested as he carried the dishes out of the room, "Or you could take one of the spare rooms."

"Alright, I guess I'll take her room then..." Mikasa replied.

Bertholdt lead her down a few doors to Annie's room. "Since you don't have any extra clothes you can borrow some from Annie's drawer or from me or Reiner."

"Okay, thanks." she said.

"Well, I'll be in my room or in the Captain's quarters. Come find me or Reiner if you need anything." he replied.

She gave a nod. With that, he went down the hall and into another room that she couldn't identify. They didn't show her around or anything.

These two weren't as terrible as they seem. Or at least that's what Mikasa was starting to think.

Reiner seems like a nice guy. Bertholdt was a bit of an introvert it looks like.

Mikasa sighed and walked into the room that belonged to Annie, closing the door behind her. Not wanting to mess with anything, she just sat down on the bed.

I wonder what it's like at home... she wondered, feeling tears well up in her eyes. It's been only a few hours and she's already homesick. She didn't want to be here. Yes, she wanted to see Eren, but not like this. She quickly blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall.

Mikasa went over and spotted a few matches on the bedside table. Striking one, she lit the lantern that sat on the table, lighting up the room.

She made her way over towards the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror above. She had a few cuts and bruises, along with a bandage wrapped around her head still. She gently unwrapped it, placing it on the top of the dresser.

At least they were kind enough to take me to the doctors quarters... she thought to herself. Then again, these were the people who kidnapped her. She had no idea what they were truly capable of.

Sighing, she blew out the lantern and made her way back over to the bed, laying down this time, then pulled up the sheets. The only thing she could hear was the sound of ocean waves hitting against the side of the ship below.

She closed her eyes; waiting for sleep to take over.

 


	10. Getting Lost

**Third Person POV**

Three days later after leaving Stohess, the S.S Scouts have still not reached the town of Trost. Armin had admitted that he might have gotten lost, and lead them in the wrong direction. Marco didn't mind though, he liked it here, and he could wait a little while before getting to his destination. Hange also liked it here so far, she enjoyed the crews company, even if one of them was grumpy and hated her already.

But Annie wasn't having a fun time. At all. Things just weren't going her way the past few days, along with being stuck here with this crew.

After everyone ate dinner, they were just hanging out on the deck. Armin was studying the map, so he'd be able to figure out the right course to Trost.

"Ya okay?" Eren asked, approaching Annie from behind. She was at the side, looking at the pitch black sea, her head rested in her arms.

"Huh?" she said, snapping out of her thoughts and raising her head up, "Yeah."

"Homesick?" he guessed, coming up beside her. She just nodded and watched as the moon's reflection danced around in the water below, "Sorry."

"It's not your fault." she sighed, "Also, thanks for almost helpin' me sneak away the other day."

"Oh, it was no problem." he replied, "So... what about yer past?"

"I don't like to talk about it."

Eren just glanced at her, then looked back down, "Okay, I'll respect that."

Annie gave an accepting nod and then looked over, "What about yours?"

"My hometown is Shiganshina. Me, Armin and Mikasa lived there. I left my family a few years ago to be a pirate, but I still write to them."

"Who's Mikasa?" Annie asked.

"Oh, well, she's a childhood friend. When I was younger I saved her from becomin' a slave, or bein' sold, because she's the last few of the Asian clan." Eren started telling his story, "After that, she's lived with my family."

"Oh, that sounds kind of sad." she commented, pushing bangs from her face.

"Yeah, for her mostly though, she lost all of her family." Eren said and sighed, "She seems to enjoy mine and my mother's company at least."

Annie nodded, not taking her eyes off the sea, "I thought my childhood was bad, but that sounds... heartbreaking."

The next few moments were silent, before Annie decided to speak up again. "I guess I can tell ya a little bit of my childhood."

"Okay." Eren replied, looking at her in interest, listening to what she had to tell.

"Well, first off, I was a runaway ever since I was about four-teen. Me and my friends Reiner and Bertholdt left our hometown, and when we turned sixteen we decided to sail around the world, away from everyone."

"Why'd ya run away?" Eren asked.

"Reasons." she answered, not giving many details, "We just wanted to get away..."

"Oh..."

"I'm wanted for a lot of things, and running away is probably the biggest one." she sighed.

"We're stoppin' by Shiganshina tomorrow mornin', just lettin' ya know!" Captain Erwin informed Eren and Annie as he walked by.

"Okay." Eren said and Annie gave a nod. Then, everyone seemed to be going to bed.

"I'm tired, what about you? Eren asked. Annie gave a shrug in response.

"I could sleep."

"Alright." Eren replied, and they both headed for their room. Eren insisted on Annie having the bed, and after arguing over it, Annie finally gave up and took the offer. Then they both went to sleep.

**Annie's POV**

"Hey! Annie!"

"Wake up!"

"It's just a dream!"

"There's nobody else here!"

"Yer safe!"

My eyes shot open quickly, as Eren's yelling and shaking me had woke me up. I could feel my bangs sticking to my face with sweat.

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned my past, it only brings those damned nightmares. Stupid me.

I breathed in deeply, then breathed out. My heart was still pounding.

"I woke up because ya were tossin' and turnin'." Eren informed me, "Ya even fell off the bed, so I had to put ya back on it."

"Sorry..." I apologized, which I barely ever do.

"It's fine." he assured, "Do ya wanna talk about it?"

I shook my head, "I'll just go back to sleep."

"What? After that? What if ya have more nightmares?" he questioned.

"Then I'll have more nightmares." I stated, "I've had 'em all my life, this isn't the worst... so I'll just sleep it off."

"Would it help if I slept with ya?"

_I must still be dreaming, because he's acting weird._

"Nothing's ever helped this. I just need to learn to deal with it." I sighed. I mean, it's true. Nothing's ever helped them go away. Even when I was younger and scared, both of my friends Reiner and Bertholdt slept with me, they still came. It didn't help. Nothing did.

"Goodnight." he said. I looked up so see that he was right next to me. In the bed. On the outside.

_Is this bed even big enough for two people!?_

"What? When did you get here!?" I panicked, seeing that I was on the inside, next to the wall. He was close to me, and I didn't like it. But for some reason, I didn't kick him out of the bed.

"While ya were lost in yer thoughts. Now go to sleep, I don't want to keep getting woke up by yer noisy tossin' and turnin'." he answered, before closing his eyes, "Now goodnight."

"But-"

"I said goodnight." he cut me off.

"Ugh-"

"Just quit complainin' and go to sleep, woman." he said.

"Screw you." I sighed and turned around, showing him my back and closing my eyes.

I could feel him breathing on my neck. It sent shivers down my spine. I'm not used to sharing a bed, I haven't since I was younger.

Man, I hate how short I am, or how tall he is, or just the fact that he is in my bed. Well, his bed technically. At least he's warm. I'm probably still sweaty from having that nightmare, I bet he thinks I'm disgusting.

_Then again, why should I care what he thinks of me?_

After finally tiring myself out with my thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.

 


	11. Shiganshina

**Third person POV**

"Land ho!" Captain Erwin announced, catching everyone's attention. It was noon and they had just arrived at Shiganshina's port.

Everyone parted from the ship, and began making their way towards the bar Captain Erwin wanted to go to. Shiganshina wasn't a rough town, so everyone dressed casually, besides the captain of course.

"After this, I wanna go see my family." Eren said as he walked with the group. Everyone understood and continued on with whatever they were talking about before.

When they got in the bar, Captain Erwin, Hange and Levi sat down at the bar, and ordered booze, along with the two men being surrounded by women. Jean and Connie went to go dance with some other men who seemed to be drunk, and Armin sat down at an empty table, pulling out a book to read. Annie just decided to sit down on a bar stool, away from the others, and Eren sat down next to her, not knowing what else to do. He knows that Mikasa works here but he didn't see her around. Maybe she was off today.

"They seem to be quite popular..." Annie spoke up, motioning towards Captain Erwin and Levi.

"Yeah, they are with women." Eren sighed.

"Reiner and Bert are too, especially Reiner." Annie replied, tucking a stray piece of hair in her bun, only to have to redo it when she messed it up even more.

"Having trouble?" Eren laughed.

"Shut up..." she mumbled, wrapping her hair tie around her bun. A few moments of silence passed, at the two just watched events happening around them. Then, Armin came over to join them.

"Hey guys..." he greeted, plopping down on the stool beside Annie.

Annie nodded a 'hello' and Eren replied with a "Hey."

"You guys bored too?" Armin asked the two, who answered with nods.

A few more moments passed, when a band began to play some music and people were getting up from their seats, into partners, to dance. They were making their way to the middle of the floor, where several people were partner dancing. Both Eren and Armin seemed to have the same idea because they both glanced at Annie.

"Hey Annie, would you-" Armin started, but Eren quickly interrupted him, cutting him off.

"Hey Annie, wanna dance?" Eren asked quickly, beating Armin to it.

**Annie's POV**

"U-uh..." I started, looking at the two boys who were both offering me one of their hands, "I don't know how to dance..."

"I can show ya." Eren suggested.

"Okay..." I sighed, taking his hand, "Sorry Armin, maybe another time..."

That actually made me feel kind of bad for him. Then again, why would anyone even want to dance with me?

"Oh, okay..." he replied, sitting back down, only to be dragged back to his feet as Jean and Connie came over, dragging him off somewhere. Then, Eren led me to the middle of the floor, where everyone was dancing.

We stood out quite a bit, with everyone else wearing dresses and nice clothes, while I was wearing a white stained hoodie and ripped jeans with boots, and Eren was wearing his usual, dirty tan shirt and jeans with slip on shoes.

"Ya know how to dance?" I questioned.

"Kind of. My mom used to dance with me when I was younger," he answered, "I've also seen her and my dad dance."

"Oh."

He followed the steps of everyone else around us, ignoring the fact that I had stepped on his toes, several times.

He was actually pretty good at this; unlike me. I didn't even know my left from my right.

"This is kind of fun." he commented, then twirled me around in a circle.

"I suck at this." I spoke up, watching my feet closely, trying not to step on his. I was surprised I was even dancing with him, usually I wouldn't let anyone do this, but for some reason I was okay with this.

"Here." he said, re-positioning my hands. He placed mine on his shoulders and his were close to my waist. "Ya don't know your left from your right, do ya?"

I sighed, shaking my head no. "Just follow my lead then." he replied.

"Alright." I said, following his steps.

After a while, the band stopped playing and went back to regular background music, while everyone left the dance floor. I removed my hands from his shoulders, and he did the same.

"It's getting late, I'm gonna go see my family while we're here. See ya later." Eren said.

"Okay." I replied, watching as he turned around and left the bar.

Not knowing what else to do, I went outside and sat on a nearby bench, watching the people around me. Kids were playing tag in the streets, people were selling stuff at their stands, and parents were playing with their kids. I watched as a man carried his young daughter on his shoulders, laughing along with her.

"Meoww..."

"Hm?" I looked down to see a black cat, that must have leaped up onto the bench while I wasn't looking.

It had dark blue eyes and looked decently clean. "Hey there..." I greeted quietly, stroking it's furry head, all the down to its tail. Checking, I found out that it was a female cat.

She just purred; rubbing against my side. "Do ya not have a home?" I asked her, as if she would respond to me. I sighed, "Me either..."

I continued to pet her, until the group, besides Eren, came back out from the bar, ready to leave.

"Oi, we're leavin'." Levi informed. I nodded, following them back to the ship.

Later that night, Eren came back from his house. He informed us that his friend Mikasa was missing, and that apparently she was kidnapped by some pirates. Eren was confused, angry, and devastated.

After we all discussed the topic for a little while, it was getting really late so everyone went to bed.

We left Shiganshina, still searching for Trost.

 


	12. Sick

**Third Person POV**

A few days after being on board, Mikasa was slowly starting to get used to being on a ship. The food was an exception though. Today they were stopped at a port of a small town and Reiner went to stock up on food and other supplies they needed.

The next day, however, Reiner had come down with an illness. He must have caught it while he was in the town the day before, from some commoners. Whatever the illness was, it was getting rough. He was sneezing, coughing and running a fever, along with having a stuffy nose. It seemed like a cold, but it was making it difficult for him to breathe properly and the medicine wasn't helping.

"None of the medicine is helping...?" Bertholdt questioned, eyeing Reiner's exhausted face. His nose was running.

"Doesn't-" he sniffled, "Seem like it."

Mikasa came into the room with a new, cold, damp washcloth. She gently placed it on Reiner's forehead, replacing the old one. "Thank you." he thanked her. She nodded a 'you're welcome' and took the old washcloth and went to put it in the laundry room.

"I think I know what can help..." Bertholdt spoke up, scanning his eye over the map he was holding.

"What?" Reiner asked from his bed. Mikasa also came back into the room.

"Zeke mentioned these plants before... he said it was the cure for almost anythin' that was treatable. Since the medicine we've gave you isn't workin', we can get that plant." he answered. "They're on this island here..."

"But thaaaa-" Reiner was cut off from his sneeze, "Achoo!"

"That island is dangerous." Reiner continued, taking a deep breath, "It's extremely cold there."

"I'm gettin' you that plant, your illness could get worse." Bertholdt stated.

Reiner sighed, seeing that he couldn't argue. With that, the S.S. Warrior had changed it's course, heading for the island they needed to go to. While that happened, Mikasa tried to nurse Reiner back to health as much as she could. She didn't necessarily like being on the ship, but she didn't hate it either. She was at least trying to be useful to them.

It was just mere hours later that they had reached the island they were searching for.

"Be careful, please. You n' Annie are my only friends, I don't wanna lose ya." Reiner said to Bertholdt while he was getting ready.

"Don't worry about me." Bertholdt insisted. He was putting on a coat over his shirt and some gloves. Then he sat in a chair to pull on his boots.

"I could help you find it...?" Mikasa spoke up, watching him put on his shoes.

"It's a dangerous task." Bertholdt stated, "I don't recommend it. But if you want to come along, that's your choice."

"I'll go." Mikasa replied. She was wanted to go, because she wanted to help and because she wanted to walk on land again.

It's been awhile since she has, even though it's only been a few days since she's been at sea with her kidnappers. She wasn't even considering herself being kidnapped anymore, which started to worry her a bit. But she shook it off.

"You'll need more clothes. The island is really cold." Bertholdt informed her, "I have some if you need them."

Mikasa gave a short nod.

"Be safe ya two!" Reiner called before they left the room.

"We will." Bertholdt assured before leaving the room. Then he quickly gave Reiner a few more blankets and changed out the washcloth on his forehead, just to be safe. Then him and Mikasa headed for his room.

**Mikasa's POV**

When we got to his room, it looked just like Annie's, but just a tad nicer. Except for a single bed, he had a double, and his things looked more neat.

"Here." he said after pulling something out of his dresser. It was a coat that looked like it would be much larger on me, and a thicker shirt. "I'll get some gloves and boots for you to wear, I'll be right back."

I gave a nod and watched as he left the room. Looking around, I gazed at some of his things. There were a few handguns on top of the bookshelf, and some books on the shelves. I also spotted a letter. Curiously, I picked it up and read over some of it. It was to this 'Annie' girl and it stopped when he started to mention his feelings.

 _Does he like this girl?_ I started to wonder. He seems to care about her a lot.

"I'm back." I heard him say as the door clicked open. "Hey, what're you-"

"Uh..." I put the letter down and quickly turned around. He looked scary when he was annoyed. "Sorry, I was nosy..."

"Just... put these on. And don't touch my stuff." he spoke and tossed me the gloves, along with the boots. I got a quick glance of his face and noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. 

After he left the room to give me some privacy, I changed shirts and put the coat on over me, then put the boots and gloves on. The gloves and boots seemed to belong to Annie, since they were too small to fit a man. I came back out of the room.

"Ready?"

I gave him a nod in response. Bertholdt sighed and then we headed off the ship and onto the island.

He was right; the island was extremely cold. There was frost on the ground and snow on further. I'm glad he game me a coat, or I would be freezing right now. We walked in silence, the cold wind blowing against us.

"I think it's in that cave over there..." Bertholdt spoke up, pointing towards a cave entrance in the distance, in the forest part.

"In a cave?" I questioned.

"I guess it can't grow in the harsh weather." Bertholdt replied. "Or the world is just weird."

We continued on our way towards the cave. The wind was starting to pick up more. "Wow it's c-cold." I commented, breaking the silence.

"I know." Bertholdt replied, "You didn't have to tag along. Why did you?"

"I wanted to try and be useful." I replied, "And it's never fun to be alone..."

He didn't say anything.

Finally, we reached the entrance. "It should be in here. Or Zeke was messin' with us."

"Wait, who's Zeke?" I asked.

"Our Captain." he answered as we entered the cave.

"I thought you were the captain..." I replied. This was confusing me. 

"Well, he kinda ditched us for a while so I took over for now." he sighed. We came to the end of the cave, and there as we expected, was a few funny looking herbs.

"We got it." Bertholdt announced, then picked up the plants, putting them into a bag he had in his pocket.

As soon as we turned around, we couldn't see out of the entrance very well; it was mostly blurry from snow. "A snowstorm...?"

" _Great_." Bertholdt sighed, "Looks like we'll have to stay here for a while until it dies down."

After a few moments passed, Bertholdt managed to start a fire with some of the sticks in here. The cave was small, but has some good resources. We both sat next to the fire to keep warm. The sky outside was growing dark by the second.

"So..." I started, trying to make conversation to pass some time, "Why'd you become a pirate?"

He seemed to hesitate to answer at first. "Me and my friends ran away from our town, we didn't really want to at first but it turned out to be our only choice."

"Oh..." I replied. "Must be a rough town."

"Yeah..." he said, poking at the fire with a stick. "Are you getting tired?"

"A little, I guess..." I answered, hugging myself in attempt to keep warm. I watched as he put the fire out, leaving the cave mostly dark, the only light source being the moon outside.

"We should get some sleep." he spoke up, sitting next to me this time. I gave a nod in response but he couldn't see it.

"Well, goodnight I guess." he said and laid down, facing towards me.

"Goodnight." I replied and laid down as well. I brought my knees up closer to my head and hugged them again, trying to stay warm. This coat was big and warm, but my legs were freezing.

I tried to fall asleep but all I could think about for some reason was my home and Eren. I wonder what he's doing right now... I wonder what Mr and Mrs Jaeger are doing right now.

Ugh, now I'm feeling homesick. Great.

I adjusted myself again, trying to get comfortable. The ground really wasn't comfy to sleep on.

"Still awake?" I heard Bertholdt whisper from behind me.

"Yeah..." I replied, turning on my other side to face him.

"Thinking?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, and it's cold and uncomfortable. You?"

"Same here." he answered.

"What're you thinking about?" I decided to ask.

"Nothin' important..." he sighed. He sounds like he's lying. Maybe he's thinking about Annie. Or Reiner. Or his hometown.

"Oh..." I replied. It got quiet for a few moments.

Did he fall asleep?

I took the silence as a yes to my own question.

I continued to think about things until I tired myself out with my thoughts and managed to drift off to sleep.

 


	13. Guns

** Eren's POV **

"We'll be in Trost in a few days!" Armin announced as he peeped in the doorway, along with Captain Erwin behind him.

"Nice job, Arlert." Captain Erwin praised him, then joined everyone for breakfast.

After everyone finished, Captain gave us each some jobs to do today. Me and Annie were on cleaning duty, along with Levi; but he likes working alone when he cleans. Armin was navigating, like usual, Jean was going to organize, Connie was working on our equipment and Hange was organizing the clinic.

"So, have anymore nightmares lately?" I decided to ask, breaking the silence as me and Annie scrubbed the deck. She was scrubbing one side while I was scrubbing the other.

Annie shrugged and continued to sweep, finally finishing the last spot. I wondered what her nightmares were about, to be honest. They seemed terrible, the way they made her toss and turn.

"Yer a quiet person, aren't ya?"

She just nodded in agreement and handed me the sponge, unsure of what to do with it. I took it and rung it out over the side of the ship, then took both mine and her sponge and put it up in the supply closet.

After we finished, Levi admired our work and said it looked good. He informed us that we were done.

"Hey, uh... Annie?" Connie called, catching up to us, with something in his hands.

"What?" she asked, turning around.

"Yer uh... chain was rusted and it may have broke..." Connie answered, motioning to the broken weapon in his hands. Her sickle and chain was now in two different pieces.

"Great..." she sighed, "Just throw it out."

"Alright." Connie said, scurrying back off to the storage room.

"That sucks." I commented, "Do ya use anything else to fight with?"

She responded by shaking her head.  _Really, nothing else?_

"What about... a gun?" I asked, pulling the handgun out from my pocket.

"Never shot one." she answered.

"Want to learn?" I asked.

"Sure, why not." she sighed.

"Alright, be right back then." I said, running off to find something to use as a target.

** Annie's POV **

I watched as he went to go do something.

Strange, I don't think I've ever been taught anything. Well, besides how to fight, from my father.  _I'm_  usually the one teaching someone something. As I waited, I felt something rub against my leg.

Startled, I looked down to see the cat from yesterday, rubbing against my legs. "Oh, it's just you... How did ya get on here?"

I reached down and rubbed her soft, furry head. She purred and leaned into the touch. I continued to stroke her fur until Eren showed up again. He was carrying a box full of some old tin cans. I was guessing that's what I'm gonna use as my target.

"Is that a cat?" he questioned.

"Yeah, she must have followed me from the port." I answered, scratching her tummy as she rolled over on her back, "Do ya guys allow pets on board?"

"Dunno, we've never had one." he answered, setting the box down and crouched down next to us.

"Well I'll take her back home with me on the S.S. Warrior when they come to get me..." I replied, then mumbled something quietly to myself, " _If_  they come..."

"Okay, well we can keep her for now. What about a name?" Eren asked, standing up and picked the box up.

"Uh... I dunno," I admitted, "I was thinking maybe... Mina?"

"Mina?" he asked.

"Yeah." I answered. When I was younger I had a friend named Mina. 

"Okay." he replied, "So, wanna get started?"

"Sure." I replied, standing up and following him to where he was putting a few cans on the side of the ship railing. Then, he tossed me the pistol he had in his pocket, which I caught easily.

"So I just, aim and pull the trigger?" I questioned, studying the small gun in my hand.

"Basically, but theres more to it than that," he said, "Here, let me show ya."

Then he explained all of his knowledge about guns. He even demonstrated a few times, and let me try it, which I got the hang of after a few tries. It was a pretty simple weapon to learn about. I liked it. He wasn't as bad of a teacher like I expected.

Maybe we'd get along.

After a while, it was getting late and dinner was ready, so everyone went to eat. Then, we all washed up and went off to bed, as we were sailing closer to Trost.


	14. Trost

**Third Person POV**

The next day, the Scouts had finally made it to Trost. They decided to pay a visit after letting Marco off the ship.

Marco didn't want to leave at first, but he did. Him and Jean made good friends while he was on the ship. They both agreed to write to each other as much as possible.

Trost was a small, but resourceful town. Captain Erwin allowed everyone to visit around. The ship was in a free trade zone, so nothing should be bothered. Levi, along with Hange, went to go shop for cleaning supplies, since she wanted to tag along. Jean, Connie and Armin went to buy some food. Erwin went to a nearby bar. Eren and Annie walked around the streets.

Annie had to keep a low profile though, because people here would probably know her face. It was on several 'WANTED' posters that were hanging around the town. There were many people on those posters, but the Warriors were some of the main targets for some reason.

"Why are you and the others wanted so much?" Eren questioned as they were turning on a street corner. He had saw the posters. There were many market stands on the side of the street, along with shops and houses.

Annie hesitated to answer at first, but she decided to answer. "Trost is one of the towns that me and my friends were know as bandits in. We stole from many shops."

"Oh..." Eren replied, kicking a rock in his path. "Do you still do that?"

"Not much anymore... back then I didn't have anythin'." she answered. "Plus, they also know we're runaways. Our reward is high."

Eren nodded. He was glad that she was starting to open up to him. It was a slow start, but it was something. "Why'd you runway...?" he asked. She glanced over at him after he asked that question. "Sorry, you don't hafta answer if ya don't wanna..."

She sighed, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. "The town I grew up in was bad. That's all you need to know."

The next few moments were silent. They continued to walk until one small, old woman selling some cute jewelry stopped them. "Hey, young lady!"

"Me?" Annie asked.

"Yes, you!" the woman replied, a smile on her face. Annie came over towards the stand. "Don't you think these necklaces are lovely?"

"Yeah, they're pretty." Annie said, admiring the necklaces on the table. They weren't expensive looking. They were mostly just a neat looking silver chain with a cute gemstone on it.

"Maybe your boyfriend here would buy you one?" the woman suggested quietly, giving a wink.

"B-boyfriend?" Annie questioned, taken aback by the choice of words. "He's not-"

"What are they?" Eren asked. He hadn't heard what the woman had called him.

"Necklaces." the woman replied. "My daughter made them herself. They're just one gold coin."

Eren took a short glance at Annie before reaching into his front pants pocket. He pulled out a pouch, then took out one gold coin. He handed it to the woman. She handed him a necklace in return. "Thank you." the woman smiled at him and placed the coin in a jar.

Eren nodded to her, then turned around to Annie. "Let's go." he said before walking.

Annie just followed behind him, confused. "Why'd you buy it?" she asked.

"Didn't ya want it?" Eren asked in response, holding the necklace in one hand. He turned around to face her.

She shrugged, "I mean, you didn't hafta waste your money on me-"

"Just take it." he insisted, averting his eyes from her. His face was now a light shade of red. He placed it in her hand.

Annie looked down at the necklace. "I'm not used to getting gifts... thanks." she said, then placed it over her head and let it hang around her neck. The blue of the gem matched her eyes almost perfectly.

After that, they started on their way back to the ship. It was a decent distance from where they were. The sky was beginning to turn a beautiful shade of orange. Many people were in town now, it was getting a little crowded.

"Ack!" Annie yelped as she was pulled into an alley.

"I saw a few navy officers down that street." Eren said, pulling Annie's arm with him as he walked down the alley. "He would've caught both of us. This way will be safer."

Annie gave a nod, following behind him, her wrist in his hand still.

Soon, they made it out of the alley and back to the port. Scanning the area, just to be safe, they found no officers around. Then, they quickly made their way back to the ship. Everyone had returned back to it by now.

"Next stop is Rose Island!" Captain Erwin announced. "There's said to be an abandoned castle named Utgard on it, and it holds some of the best treasure."

"I'll get the ship on course." Armin informed and then headed off to do his job.

Everyone else ate a quick bite of dinner and then headed to bed. Eren went to his room after he finished washing the dishes, since today it was his duty. He knocked twice on the door before going inside.

"Are ya in here-"

Eren stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw, then quickly backed out and closed the door.

"I'm sorry!"

"What the hell's yer problem?!" Annie exclaimed form the other side of the door, "Ya pervert!"

"Ugh..." Eren groaned, sliding down the door until he hit the floor. He covered his face with his hands. His face was heating up; it was as red as a tomato. "I didn't mean to, I swear!"

He had just accidentally walked in on Annie changing clothes. And he had seen quite a bit.

"Oi, be quiet!" Levi ordered as he stepped out of his room. "It's bad enough Hange keeps me awake, I don't wanna listen to your blabbering too!"

"S-sorry Levi." Eren apologized.

"Tch. Just say quiet for the rest of the night, dumbass. Or else." Levi rolled his eyes and retreated back to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"I'm done now, for your information." Annie announced from the room. Eren got up and walked into the room.

"I'm so sorry." Eren apologized, "I promise I didn't see... much."

"Whatever. Just don't do it again, or I'll have yer head on a stick." Annie threatened. "That's not a threat, it's a promise."

They were both quiet for a few moments, until Eren spoke up. "So... are you tired?"  
"A little." Annie answered, sitting on the bed.

"Same." Eren replied, then stretched. "Man, my legs are killing me from walking so much today. I'm gonna change clothes."

"I'll turn away and not look." Annie said, turning her back towards him. "Unlike some people."

"I didn't mean to!" Eren exclaimed.

"What did I say about keepin' it down, Jaeger?!" They could clearly hear Levi from the next room over scolding him.

Eren sighed, then quickly changed into more comfortable clothes. "Alright, I'm done."

After that, Eren blew out the lantern and the room went dark. "Want to share the bed again...?" Eren quietly asked, trying not to sound pervy. He really didn't want to sleep on the floor. Why couldn't his room have bunk beds like some of the others? He wondered to himself.

"Sure."

Annie scooted over as much as she could. Eren carefully slid in next to her. They slept with their backs facing each other. "Goodnight." Eren whispered.

"Goodnight." Annie responded.

They both fell asleep with ease.

 


	15. Hope

**Third Person POV**

After a day or two, Reiner made an incredibly fast recovery and was able to do stuff now. His illness seemed to be completely gone.

Now it was a new day for the Warrior crew, plus Mikasa; and now Ymir. She had come back onto the ship the night before while they were at the villages port, because she had to leave the girl she ran away for alone for a while.

Reiner and Ymir were still asleep, since it was early in the morning. Mikasa had woke up a few moments ago and had explored the ship a bit, then found Bertholdt on the main deck.

"I never knew the sunrise could be this beautiful..." Mikasa quietly commented, standing next to Bertholdt who was steering the ship. The sun was sitting on the horizon, beginning to peek from behind the clouds, painting the sky beautiful colors

"It usually is. You get a great view of it from here." Bertholdt replied, looking out at the sun; the light reflecting off from his olive colored eyes. "You get an even better view from the Crow's Nest.

Mikasa gave a nod in reply, removing her gaze from him to up at the Crow's Nest. The wind was gently blowing through her long, sleek, black hair.

"Where do you think Eren's crew is?" she asked.

"I... don't know." Bertholdt answered honestly, then quietly added, "But I hope Annie's okay... Do you... like Eren?"

Mikasa was silent for a few seconds while she thought it over, then she answered. "I do... but I don't think he feels the same."

Bertholdt gave an understanding nod. "I think I know how that feels."

Mikasa glanced up at him, tucking a few pieces of black hair behind her ear. He does...? she wondered to herself.

"You like this Annie girl, right?"

Bertholdt hesitantly nodded in response. "I doubt she likes me back." he sighed, mumbling to himself, "Why would anyone like me anyways..."

The conversation got quiet after that. Mikasa just admired the beautiful scenery that was visible to her while Bertholdt studied the map and compass he had in his hands. After a few moments, one of them spoke up again.

"So... why don't ya hate us?" Bertholdt questioned, taking a glimpse at Mikasa, then retreated his eyes back to the map when she caught his eyes.

He continued. "I mean... we kidnapped you. And you know we're some of the worst people out there. Why are you kind to us?"

Mikasa looked at him for a few seconds before moving her gaze downwards at the floor. "I did at first... but you're not as bad as I thought."

"What do ya mean...?" he asked.

"At first I thought you two were going to try and do something terrible to me... like last time I got kidnapped... but I was wrong. And you two don't seem as terrible as you're made out to be." she replied, adjusting the red scarf that was wrapped around her neck.

"At least that's what I think..." she whispered.

"You've been kidnapped before?" Bertholdt decided to ask, "What happened?"

Her fingers were still messing with the soft fabric of the scarf. She sighed, thinking of what to say. Bertholdt waited patiently.

"When I was little... Three men kidnapped me, killed my parents in front of me, and were about to sell me as a slave of some kind, because I'm some of the last of my clan." she quietly responded, gripping the fabric, tears brimming at her grey eyes from the memory. "But then Eren found me, and saved me by killing two of the kidnappers. I killed the third one. His family took me into their home... he gave me his scarf... " she held the scarf up to her chin, a sad smile appearing on her face. "He saved me."

Bertholdt didn't know what to say at first. He didn't expect that. "That sounds awful..." he commented. "I can see why you care about him so much."

Mikasa gave a short nod in response, looking out at the sea. It kind do felt good to her to get that off her chest. "What about you?"

"My childhood... it was... a blur." Bertholdt replied. "All I remember was runnin' from some terrible people in my village and becomin' a bandit, goin' from village to village until I met this man who helped us and then I could become a pirate with my friends."

"Oh..." Mikasa responded, "That's crazy."

Bertholdt shrugged. After awhile of silence, he let out a long sigh. He turned to face her. "I have something for you."

Mikasa glanced up at him, "What is it?"

Bertholdt passed by her, intending for her to follow him. She followed close behind him, being lead into a room she had never been inside before. It seemed to be where all the captain's stuff is; the Captain's Quarters.

She watched curiously as he went through a drawer in a desk, then pulled out a piece of blank paper. Then, he found a writing tool, which was a quill feather and ink. He closed the drawer and turned around to face her. "Here," he said, handing her the paper and Quill Pen, along with some ink, "Write to your family. Tell them you're okay. I'm sure they're worried about you."

"How will you get it to them?" Mikasa questioned, gently taking the paper and feather pen he was offering from his hand.

"We'll stop by a port soon. I'll make sure to take it to the post office and get it to your family." he replied. She looked up and met his gaze.

"Thank you."

"No problem." he insisted, then left the room to attend to the deck again. She returned to Annie's room, where she was staying, and sat at the desk to write her letter to the Jaeger's.

Later, Reiner had woken up and made breakfast for everyone. Him, Bertholdt, Mikasa and Ymir joined together to eat. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood today.

They each had hope for something.

 


	16. Secrets

**Third Person POV**

When the Scouts got to Rose island, the crew got on land and searched for the abandoned Castle Utgard. Armin and Connie stayed on the ship to watch over it. They all split into groups to look through the castle for treasure and whatnot. Levi, Hange and Erwin was a group and Eren, Annie and Jean were a group. Annie didn't want to go at first but Eren had insisted for her to come.

Eren, Annie and Jean took the lower parts of the castle while Erwin, Levi and Hange took the higher parts.

"Dude, these stairs are sooo long." Jean complained as they climbed down a bunch of stairs that lead deeper into the castle. They were each carrying a torch to light their way since it just got darker as they climbed downwards.

"Then why don't ya just throw yerself down 'em." Eren chuckled, glancing at the other male.

"Shut up, you're the suicidal bastard." Jean scoffed, rolling his eyes.

The three continued to climb in silence, until they reached the end of the stairs. They came to what seemed to be a cave entrance.

"Well this looks fun." Jean sarcastically groaned, "There better be some good treasure down here."

Then they got quiet again. The only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire that lit the torches, some water dripping and their footsteps as they explored the cave.

"Ah!" Annie screamed as screeched echoed throughout the cave. It was the first sound she made since they got off the ship.

"What happened?" Eren asked. Him and Eren turned around to see Annie, waving the torch around in the air.

"What, did ya see a rat?" Jean snorted. Annie just glared at him, causing him to shut his mouth.

"Oh, it was bats?" Eren assumed, hearing the screeches from the small creatures.

"Yeah, they scared the shit outta me." Annie breathed, calming herself as the bats seemed to disappear.

"Haha." Jean laughed.

"Whatever. Can we keep going?" Annie sighed in annoyance, pushing her bangs out of her face.

The two boys nodded in response, then continued on their way. After a while of walking, they spotted a door in the distance. "Great, we found something!" Jean exclaimed.

The three quickly made their way to the door, only to find out that it was locked. "Great." Eren groaned.

"Let's break it down." Annie suggested.

"Sounds like our only option if we want to get in. I really don't feel like walking back." Jean replied, glancing over at Eren. Eren nodded in agreement.

After several attempts, the door broke from it's hinges and fell over, out of the way. Inside was a room full of valuable items, such as jewels, coins and more. It seemed to be a supply room.

"Look at all this neat stuff!" Eren beamed, looking at the items in the room. He picked up a pocket knife and studied it.

"What's this thing...?" Jean questioned, holding a small device in his hand.

"A kitchen timer," Annie answered his question, "It times how long your food needs to cook until it's done. We have one on our ship. It's really helpful, especially since Reiner's a terrible cook."

Jean admired it, his brown eyes were sparkling in amazement. "Cool..."

After they looted up some of the valuable items in the room, they found an exit in there that lead to outside the castle. When they got out, they were in the middle of the forest.

"I think the ship is this way..." Jean said, pointing in the direction he thought was right. The sun was starting to set on the horizon behind the trees; turning the sky a shade of pink.

Eren and Annie hesitantly followed Jean.

* * *

"Gah!" Eren yelped as he fell into a big waterhole. The hole was small around but the water was deep. He wasn't paying attention to where he was walking.

Jean and Annie exchanged glances, then busted out laughing. It was the first time Annie laughed with this crew.

"Stop laughing, help me out!" Eren demanded, "I-It's cold!"

"No way!" Jean laughed.

Annie snickered, watching him attempt to pull himself out. "You think it's funny!?" Eren exclaimed, watching her get closer to the waterhole.

Annie nodded, letting out another laugh. Then, she felt her ankle being grabbed and Eren pulled her into the water. "Hey!"

Jean starting laughing again, this time he started to cry because he laughed so hard.

Annie poked her head out of the surface of the water. "I'll drown you!" she threatened and grabbed Eren's shoulders, pushing him underwater.

He flailed his arms, and she finally released him, letting him get air. "Rude!" Eren pouted, then a grin appeared on his face. He quickly fixed his eyepatch that was starting to slip off.

She raised an eyebrow. Then, he put his hands together and splashed water in her face.

"Would you two quit goofin' off?" Jean sighed, "Let's go."

"Quit complainin' horseface. You're just jealous because you're left out." Eren retorted, "If you'd help us out maybe we'd be able to go."

Jean rolled his eyes. "You know what? I'll just leave you two to play around. Sorry Annie, blame that nuisance for this. I can't stand him."

With that, Jean turned on his heels and left the two in the water. "That idiot..." Eren sighed, watching as Jean's figure began to get smaller and smaller, "I guess we should get going too."

Annie gave a nod in response. Then, they helped each other out of the water. Their clothes were soaking wet.

"Ugh..." Annie groaned, "It's clinging to my skin."

"Same here." Eren sighed. Then an idea came to his mind. He stopped in his tracks and peeled off his wet shirt, then wrung some of the water out. "I'm taking mine off for now."

Annie watched as he did so, catching a glimpse of his well toned body.

Sighing, she did the same, but she had a worn out bra on underneath her shirt. She also took off the bandanna around her head and wrung it out.

Eren noticed a strange looking tattoo on Annie's collarbone, but he decided not to mention it. He wouldn't want her to think he's a creep, staring at her half naked body. He also noticed a tattoo on her left upper arm, close to her shoulder, but it didn't look as strange. It was the word "Warrior" printed in bold black letters. It looked kinda cool to him.

They walked towards the way Jean went to get back to the ship, still dripping wet. It was getting darker by the minute and they still couldn't find an opening to the forest. The only sound heard was the sound their footsteps made.

"Are we even close?" Annie spoke up, breaking the silence between them.

"I... don't know." Eren answered. Annie let out a sigh as she continued to follow him. The only thing that lit their way was the moonlight that was shining through the trees.

Crack crack!

"...What was that?" Eren asked, cautiously scanning his surroundings.

"I dunno." Annie replied, glancing over at him. His worried expression brought a grin to her face. "Maybe it's a coyote. Or a bear."

"W-what?!" Eren stuttered, "You think so?!"

"No, you moron. That sound was too small to be an animal that big. It was probably a squirrel." Annie responded.

"Oh..." Eren breathed a sigh of relief, then glared over in her direction, "Well thanks for scaring me."

She shrugged. They continued to walk in silence. Soon, they came close to the opening and the shore could be seen.

_**Snap!** _

Suddenly Eren was right next to Annie. "Still scared?" she laughed.

**_Growl..._ **

"Uh, was that your stomach...?" Annie asked.

"No..." Eren answered, swallowing. Him and Annie exchanged glances. "Should we run...?"

"I guess so..." Annie replied. With that, her and Eren grabbed each other's hands and began sprinting towards the opening. The faint noise of something running behind them could be heard as they ran.

Finally, they made it to the ladder of the ship and both took a glance behind them to see what was chasing them.

"Pfft..."

"Really?!" Eren exclaimed; seeing Jean standing right there. "You asshole!"

"You should've seen yer face!" Jean said, bursting out laughing. Tears were in his eyes.

"I vote we leave him here on this island." Annie said, letting go of Eren's hand and started to climb up the ladder.

"Rude!" Jean responded, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

"Ya know, I thought I heard a horse following us." Eren snickered, following behind Annie up the ladder.

"Hey!" Jean objected, climbing up the ladder after Eren.

The three were welcomed back aboard by the others. The ones who explored the castle put the loot they found in the supply room on the lower decks. Then they all met on the main deck again.

"Why are you and Eren shirtless and wet?" Hange asked Annie curiously.

"This idiot fell in a waterhole and drug me in with him." Annie answered. Eren gave a cheeky grin.

"Well, it's been a long day, I'm gonna go take a bath now." Jean announced.

"Oh no you don't." Annie replied, grabbing the taller boy by his ear before he could walk away.

"Ow! What?" Jean exclaimed, trying to pry her fingers off from his ear. Annie just began to twist it as he did so. "Ow ow ow...!"

"You don't deserve to take a bath first." Annie growled in his ear, "I'm going to take one first, and Eren will be second, since you ditched us, then chased us through the woods and made us all sweaty."

She let go of his ear and shoved him aside, making her way towards the washroom.

"Tch, why don't you just take one together then?!" Jean exclaimed, catching her before she left the deck.

Annie stopped in her tracks, then turned around, glaring at him. Jean instantly regretted his words. "Wait-"

Annie cut him off as she swiftly made her way over towards him, slapping her hand across his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking a bath."

Everyone was quiet as they watched her leave the deck, going towards the washroom. Jean just held his face, which now had a red handprint on it.

"I don't think Miss Annie likes you, Jean." Armin stated, hiding his laughter with a smile.

Almost everyone glanced at Armin and laughed at his comment.

* * *

"I'm sorry about what happened today." Eren spoke up. They were both sitting on the edge of his bed. Annie was using his comb to comb out the knots in her wet hair while Eren was drying his hair with a towel.

"It's fine." she sighed.

"Okay." he replied, throwing the towel in a pile of dirty clothes located in the corner of his room. "So..." Eren said, trying to start a conversation.

Annie got up and went to put the comb back on his dresser, where she got it. "What?"

He sat in thought for a second, trying to think of something to talk about. "I saw you have some tattoos."

"Yeah, I have one." Annie replied, rolling up her shirt sleeve to reveal the 'Warrior' tattoo on her upper arm.

"Nice..." he commented, admiring the ink, "but I thought you had two."

Annie raised an eyebrow. Then she realized what he meant. "You mean... this?" she questioned, then turned around towards him and moved her shirt over some to reveal the right side of her collarbone.

"Yeah." Eren answered, eyeing the strange mark he saw earlier. It was a large, curvy 'x'. He wondered how he didn't notice it before.

"It's... not a tattoo."

"Hm?" Eren asked, tilting his head to the side a little, "Then what-"

"It's a brand." she answered, then fixed her shirt back.

"Why do you..." he began, confused.

"I told you some about my past before. This is another part." she sighed, "These people invaded our town and tried to enslave our people. They branded us."

"That's terrible..." Eren commented. "That's why... you guys ran away?"

Annie nodded in response. "Well, one of the reasons."

They both got quiet. Annie slowly made her way back over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"I shared one of my secrets. Now it's your turn." Annie spoke up, glancing over at him.

"U-uh..." Eren said, "What do you want to know?"

Annie sat there in thought, looking at his profile. "How about, what's under your eyepatch?" she asked curiously.

Eren tensed up a bit. "Oh, that..."

Annie patiently waited for his answer. "I'll show you tomorrow. I'm getting tired." he answered.

"Hmm... okay." Annie replied. "But you better show me."

"I will." Eren assured her. She gave a nod.

After that, Eren reached over and blew out the lantern that lit up the room. Then he noticed Annie had saved room for him in the bed, her back turned towards him.

"Goodnight Annie." he said before crawling in next to her and pulling up the blankets. They slept back to back.

"Goodnight."

They both fell asleep to the sound of the ocean waves cashing against the ship underneath them... _and_ Levi and Hange's arguing that could be heard in the room next door.

 


	17. The Bread Bandit & The Coordinate

**Third Person POV**

Everyone was woke up early in the morning by someone's loud yelling. It was still a little dark outside. Usually, Jean wakes up at this time to cook breakfast.

"What's going on?" Captain Erwin questioned. They had all made their way to where the yells were heard; the kitchen. Some of them were in the doorway since they didn't want to go in.

"Um..." A female voice could be heard from behind Jean, who had a broom in his hand. She was sitting on the floor and had a biscuit stuffed in her mouth. She was wearing normal civilian clothes; a white long-sleeved blouse and a long brown skirt, along with some black slip-on shoes. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, letting her bangs loose.

"I found 'er raiding our food!" Jean informed everyone, visibly angered.

"I thought it was rats doing that..." Armin spoke up.

"Hey, aren't you the bread bandit?" Connie said, studying her profile.

"I'm sorry..." the girl apologized. "I sneaked my way on your ship at Trost."

"Wait, you thought someone was threatening us and you grabbed a broom to defend yourself?" Eren asked Jean.

"Shut up, there's more to worry about at the moment than what I chose as a weapon." Jean retorted, glaring at Eren.

"She ate through almost all of our food supply!" Levi scolded, glaring at the girl.

"If I'm not mistaken..." Erwin began, walking towards the girl. Jean moved out of his way so him and the girl were facing each other. He continued, "You're the bread bandit, yeah?"

The girl meekly nodded, "My name is Sasha."

"I've heard how good of a bandit ya are. What else are ya good at?" Erwin replied.

"Hmm..." Sasha said, thinking the question over. "I'm pretty good at cooking and archery, I guess."

"Well then," Erwin said, "Ya seem like you'd be a good addition to our crew. What do ya say?"

"What?!" Jean cried.

"If she says yes, she better know she's getting punished for this." Levi groaned.

"Really...?" Sasha said, her eyes lighting up. Erwin simply nodded.

"Yes!" Sasha answered.

"You'll have to share a room with someone. It can't be these two though." Erwin replied, motioning towards Eren, Annie, Levi and Hange.

"I'll share my room." Connie offered.

"Well there ya go." Erwin said. "Levi, you can inform her of her punishment."

Levi gave a nod, glaring at Sasha. "You won't eat for three days, since you devoured more than half of our food."

Sasha frowned, "I understand."

"And you'll help me clean for a month." Levi added, seeing her confused expression. "Trust me, if you do a shitty job, it won't be pretty."

"Levi is very strict." Eren spoke up. "Last time I did a bad job he tied me to one of the poles on the deck and poured birdseed on me. The birds attacked me. It wasn't nice."

"He threw me overboard while I was in my underwear, still half asleep." Jean mentioned.

"He made me sleep in the crow's nest while it was raining." Armin added.

Levi smirked. Sasha just glanced over at him with noticeable fear in her eyes.

"Come on, I'll show ya around..." Connie said, helping Sasha to her feet.

"Okay!" she replied, following him. After that, they left the kitchen and he showed her around the ship and introduced her to the others.

* * *

Later that night, they decided to throw a welcoming party for their new crew member, Sasha. She helped Jean cook a feast for everyone. They used most of what was left in their food supply. They agreed to stop by a port soon and stock up on some more.

"I didn't know ya were this good of a cook..." Jean commented, looking over at Sasha. She shrugged.

"Yeah, it's almost better than Jean's." Armin spoke up, shoving some bread into his mouth.

"Hey!" Jean objected.

"Oi, do you mind, four-eyes?!" Levi scolded. Hange was leaning her head on his shoulder.

"S-sorry shortie..." she giggled. He glanced over to see a half empty bottle of booze in her hand.

"Of course," Levi sighed, "She's gettin' tipsy."

Erwin laughed, "She's a light drinker."

"I cooked some of this food. Can't I eat some of it?" Sasha asked.

"No." Levi simply responded. Sasha just frowned, admiring all the delicious food in front of her. It was killing her inside.

Everyone finished their meal and Jean and Sasha started to handle the leftovers. The adults started drinking the booze and even some of the others did, including Jean and Annie. They all went to the main deck.

Levi and Erwin could handle their alcohol good, unlike Hange who started getting really drunk. She started to do a belly dance for Erwin and Levi, who just laughed at her.

"Wooooo..." Hange said as she bent over and threw an arm around Levi, getting her face closer to his. "Aren't you cuute..."

"What're ya doin'?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow. Her breath reeked of alcohol.

"I dunno..." she replied, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck.

Levi sighed, glancing over at Erwin, "I'm gonna take her to bed before she gets any weirder."

With that, Levi swept Hange off her feet and slung her over his shoulder. "Woah!" Hange yelped as she felt herself suddenly being lifted.

"Alright, don't do anythin' kinky." Erwin chuckled. Levi sent a glare at him. "I'm just kiddin'!" Erwin quickly added, raising his hands up in defense.

"Hmph." Levi said before turning on his heels and going towards his room.

Jean was drinking and chatting with Armin about different types of things. Sasha and Connie were dancing around because they were bored. Eren and Annie were sitting on the deck next to the side of the ship, having a conversation.

"Hey, you promised to show me what's under your eyepatch yesterday." Annie said, taking a drink from the bottle she had.

"Oh yeah..." Eren replied, remembering what he had said yesterday. He let out a sigh, "Please don't laugh."

"I won't." she assured, taking another drink from the bottle, waiting patiently.

He turned around so his back was facing the others, so nobody else on the deck could see besides Annie. She watched as he removed the eyepatch from his face, holding it in his hand. He opened the eye that had been hidden. It was a beautiful golden color.

Annie's eyes went wide when she saw them. One was turquoise, and the other golden.

She realized it.

Her and her friends have been looking for him this whole time. Eren was the lost boy from the legendary island they've been searching for; the Coordinate.

"Well...?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Are they that ugly?"

"N-no..." Annie shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. She decided not to worry about it right now. "They're really beautiful, actually. It's just..."

Eren's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. Nobody had ever called them beautiful besides his mother and Mikasa. But, then again, he's barely shown them to anyone. "Just what?"

"Nothing." Annie insisted, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. She took another drink from the bottle, finishing it. "Why do you hide them?"

He put the eyepatch back on, covering his yellow eye. "When I was younger, kids used to tell me that they looked weird." he answered, "So... I decided to start covering one of them, so I looked a little more normal."

Annie was quiet. Her head was starting to feel light.

"It's very starry out tonight..." she commented.

The both gazed up at the night sky. It was almost completely clear of clouds and just about every star could be seen. The moon was full and as bright as ever, lighting up the sky as much as it could.

"Yeah..." he replied, glancing over at her. He hadn't noticed it before but her hair was down instead of in its usual bun. It looked good like that, he thought to himself.

She was looking out at the pitch black sea. Feeling his stare, she turned her head to meet his eye. "Somethin' on my face?"

"N-no..." Eren replied, quickly averting his gaze from her, a blush spreading across his cheeks. He looked around to see that most of the others had already left to go to bed. "Hey, uh..."

"Hm?" she hummed, not removing her gaze from the starry night sky. He was slowly getting a little more closer to her.

"What is it-" Annie began and turned to face him, but was cut off as she felt something warm press against her lips. She also felt a hand cup her cheek.

She was shocked at first; realizing that Eren had leaned in and kissed her. A lot of thoughts were running through her mind at the moment. He could taste alcohol on her lips from where she was drinking booze earlier.

When he pulled away, Annie was still shocked. She blinked a few times, confused on what had just happened. Eren's face was beet red.

"I-I'm sorry, I-" Eren started, but was interrupted by Annie.

"Am I... drunk?" she quietly questioned.

He saw her dazed expression and laughed nervously, "No."

She gave a short nod and looked down towards the floor, biting her lower lip. It got quiet between them for a few moments.

"H-hey, are ya getting tired?" Eren stuttered, breaking the silence.

"A little." Annie replied.

"Wanna go to bed?" he asked. She gave him a short nod.

With that, he stood up from his spot and then extended a hand towards her, helping her to her feet. She was feeling a little dizzy so he helped her back to their room.

They both changed into their night clothes and then crawled into the bed.

"Goodnight, Annie." Eren said just above a whisper, his back towards her.

He felt the bed a shift a little and then he felt soft lips briefly press against his cheek. Then he felt her lay back down, her back against his. His face turned a shade of crimson.

"Goodnight, Eren."

 


	18. Helping a Princess Escape (Part 1)

**Bertholdt's POV**

In the middle of the night, I was in the Crow's Nest, looking around our ship's surroundings with a spyglass up to my eye. I needed to know of our surroundings to navigate our ship.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps from below. I lowered the spyglass and approached the side of the Crow's Nest, to find who was below me.

 _It's the middle of the night, who could be awake?_ I wondered.

Below me was Mikasa, leaning on the side of the ship. She didn't look too good. _Maybe she was seasick?_ I guessed.

"Is somethin' wrong?" I called to her as quiet as possible. I didn't want to wake anyone else up. But, then again, Ymir and Reiner usually slept like rocks. It was almost impossible to wake those two up.

Mikasa jumped, probably startled by my voice. "I didn't know you were out here..." she responded, glancing up to where she heard my voice. Then, she made her way over to the ladder and started to climb her way up here.

"Why're you up?" I asked, checking a few more things with the spyglass.

"I couldn't sleep," she answered, "What about you? Don't you ever sleep?"

"I'm just checkin' out some things, and I don't sleep that much." I answered both of her questions, lowering the spyglass and putting it away in a box that was up here. She just silently nodded, turning her gaze towards the view.

The ocean was pitch black, but the moon's reflection was dancing around in the waves on the horizon. The sky was also very starry, since there wasn't many clouds in the sky.

"It's cold up here..." she commented, wrapping her arms around herself.

That's right; she's probably cold. She was only wearing a loose white long-sleeved shirt and some black pants, along with some slip-ons. I was still wearing my Captain's attire, which was about two layers of shirts and a cape-like jacket over them, with white pants and black boots.

"Here." I said and took off my jacket, draping it over her shoulders.

"Hm? Oh..." she said and felt the jacket, then turned around to face me, "Thank you."

I gave her a nod. Then, I heard footsteps once again and then someone calling my name.

"Oi, Bertholdt!" I heard Ymir shout.

"Up here!" I yelled back in response. She then grabbed ahold of the ladder and made her way up here.

"Oh, it's crowded up here..." she commented when she made her way here, looking in Mikasa's direction.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Well..." she began, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could we stop by the Kingdom of Sina?" she asked, looking out to sea. "I wanna check up on Christa and see how's she doing..."

"Sure." I answered. I enjoyed helping people, it made me feel good.

"Awesome! Thanks Bertl!" she responded and briefly wrapped her arms around my torso. "Well, goodnight you two."

"Goodnight." Me and Mikasa both said at the same time. With that, she headed back down the ladder.

"Well, I need to go put our ship on the right path." I informed Mikasa, "You should go to sleep."

Mikasa sighed, "I can't, I feel sick."

"Seasick?" I asked. She nodded in response.

"It's because you're not used to being on a ship. I don't know how to help you though, I'm sorry..." I honestly responded.

"It's okay... I think it's starting to go away now." she replied. Then I made my way down the ladder, back to the deck, with her following close behind. She still had my jacket around her shoulders, holding onto it so it wouldn't fall. "Anything I can help with?"

She wants to help? That's new. Nobody has ever offered to help me navigate.

"Hmm..." I began, "I don't think there's much to help with." I scratched my head nervously.

"I'll just keep you company then." she decided.

"O-Okay..." I stuttered a reply.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"N-No... it's just that nobody has offered to do that before." I answered, then made my way towards the Captain's quarters. Mikasa just silently tagged along.

When I was done with studying the map, I used a pin to put where our destination was. Then I grabbed my compass and made my way onto the main deck and behind the rudder.

After adjusting the wheel, the ship was slowly beginning to go in a different direction. "Done." I announced, "We should be near the island's port by morning, if not later."

"Okay." Mikasa replied, "What are we gonna do there?"

"Ymir is gonna go see Christa and Reiner will probably tag along since he wants to go to the castle." I replied, "I'm probably gonna walk around the village, maybe shop or somethin'. You can do whatever, just don't run away."

She gave a nod in response, blinking a few times. "Are you okay?" I asked. She looked like she was about to pass out.

"I just feel... a little dizzy..." she answered, then she started to fall over. Quickly, I approached her and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Mikasa...?" I called, looking down at her face. She seemed to be unconscious.

I sighed, adjusting my grip on her; carrying her bridal style. I carried her to Annie's room, laying her down on the bed. I draped my jacket back over her, just incase she got cold again.

"Goodnight Mikasa." I whispered before leaving the room.

With that, I returned to my room, deciding I should get some sleep.

Third Person POV

The next morning, a little while after they ate breakfast, the ship made its way to the port of the island.

On that island there was three kingdoms; Kingdom of Sina, Kingdom of Rose and Kingdom of Maria. Both Sina and Maria was full of civilization, but Rose had been abandoned years ago after a war between the three kingdoms.

The S.S. Warrior arrived at a port in the village that separated the Kingdom of Sina and Kingdom of Rose. If they had went straight to the port of the Kingdom of Sina, they would most likely run into the Navy, which would be bad. So, they stopped at a small village port and lowered their threatening flag.

"I can't wait to get to that castle!" Reiner exclaimed after putting on his boots, ready to get off the ship.

"I can't wait to surprise Christa!" Ymir added.

Everyone had changed into different clothes, so that they wouldn't be suspected to be pirates.

Reiner was wearing a normal dark green t-shirt and white pants, along with black boots. Bertholdt was wearing a white button up shirt that had some designs on it and black pants, along with black slip-ons and he also put on some reading glasses. Ymir wore an old, baggy, gray tank top, black pants and boots. Mikasa wore what she was wearing the day she got kidnapped; a white blouse, a long brown skirt and slip-ons.

"Let's go!" Reiner shouted.

With that, the four left their vessel and got onto land. "Feels good to be on land." Ymir commented.

"I feel like I'm swaying..." Mikasa added, taking a deep breath.

"You'll get used to it." Reiner assured her, patting her on the shoulder.

"I'm gonna go shoppin', you guys need anythin'?" Bertholdt asked the others.

"You're not gonna come to the castle?" Reiner questioned.

Bertholdt shook his head from side to side.

"Could ya get me some more clothes?" Ymir asked. "Mine are getting wore out."

"Sure." Bertholdt replied, "You two?"

"I don't need anythin', besides maybe food supplies." Reiner answered.

"I'll go with you..." Mikasa offered.

"You sure you don't wanna see the kingdom?" Bertholdt asked her, shocked by her offer. She gave him a nod.

"Well, we'll catch up with you two later." Ymir said and glanced over at Reiner. With that, they were off on their own way.

After they left, Bertholdt and Mikasa walked down the streets of the village, side by side. There was markets and blacksmiths lined up on the sides of the streets.

They went in and out of stores, finding what they needed. After Bertholdt picked up some food from a few markets, he gave Mikasa some money and let her go into a clothing store and get her and Ymir some clothes while he waited outside on a bench.

"Hey, I haven't had some of that in a long time..." Mikasa commented, glancing over at one of the stands. She had some bags in her hands, containing the clothes she had bought.

"What?" Bertholdt questioned, carrying several bags.

"Ice cream." Mikasa answered.

"What's that?" Bertholdt asked another question.

Mikasa gave him a funny look, "You don't know what ice cream is?"

He shook his head. "Stay here." she said and set her bags down beside him.

A few short moments later, Mikasa returned with two ice cream cones. "Here." she said and offered him one. He stared at it for a moment before trying it. She watched as his face lit up and he smiled.

"Hey, this is good..." he commented, "When did they start making this?"

"A while." Mikasa answered, "Me, Eren, and Armin ate it when we were kids."

"Oh, I've never heard of this before..." Bertholdt replied. The both ate silently after that.

When they were done, they decided to take the bags back to the ship and then come back to the village when they were finished.

Little did they know, a lot was going on at the Kingdom of Sina.

 


	19. Helping a Princess Escape (Part 2)

**Third Person POV**

When Reiner and Ymir got to the castle, they weren't allowed inside. So, they decided to sneak in.

"I can see her in a room from here, it's at that balcony..." Ymir said to Reiner. They were observing the castle from the outside, trying to find a way in.

"Where?" Reiner asked.

"There." Ymir relied and pointed her finger towards the window with a figure of a young girl in it, right at a small balcony.

Reiner looked to where she was pointing, "Oh."

"Yeah." Ymir said, "How're we gonna get up there?"

"Hmm..." Reiner hummed, seeming to be in thought. He studied the window and the ground around it."We could climb up to that balcony somehow, but we need equipment."

Ymir gave a nod. With that, the two went off to find what they needed.

* * *

"The coast is clear." Reiner informed her. She gave a nod and swung the rope that had a hook on the end, and was able to get it hooked onto the railing of the balcony.

"Nice!" Reiner praised her. She gave a smirk. Then they both took turns climbing up the rope and made it to the balcony.

Ymir walked over to the balcony door and softly knocked a few times. A few short moments later, the girl inside the room turned around towards the noise and rushed over to open it.

"Ymir!" the girl exclaimed. She was wearing a beautiful, long, puffy dress and on her head was a shiny golden crown.

"Christa!" Ymir responded.

"I'm Reiner." Reiner added, holding a hand out for her to shake. She gladly shook his hand.

"I'm Christa..." she replied, releasing his bigger hand.

"Why is there guards all over your entrance?" Ymir questioned. "We had to sneak up here, as you can tell..."

"That's because..." Christa began, looking down, "I'm being forced into a marriage."

"What?!" Ymir and Reiner both exclaimed at the time.

"Yeah... to the prince of a kingdom, far away from here." Christa responded. "I didn't want to, I objected, but now they're going to keep me here until the wedding..."

"What the hell?!" Ymir replied, making an angry face.

"That's screwed up." Reiner said.

"Yeah, but there's nothing I can do about it." Christa sighed. "They have guards outside my door too, you guys might want to leave before you get caught."

"No..." Ymir said, looking at her.

"Huh...?" Christa spoke up, "What do you mean?"

"Hey, Reiner." Ymir called over towards the blonde boy.

"Hm?" he asked, looking towards Ymir.

"Do you think we could sneak Christa away, to our ship?" Ymir asked.

Christa gasped, "You'd... do that for me?"

"Sure we could." Reiner replied, "I'm sure our captain won't mind."

"So, what do you say?" Ymir asked her.

"Yes, thank you!" Christa answered.

"Princess Christa, are you okay in there?" A stern male voice could be heard outside the bedroom door.

"Y-yes! I'm fine!" Christa quickly responded.

"Dinner will be ready soon, we'll have the maid bring some up for you." The voice said.

"We should hurry, before someone catches us." Reiner informed the two, lowering his voice this time.

"Yeah, let's go." Ymir said. Christa gave a nod and put on her shoes. She didn't have time to change clothes.

She followed the two pirates out onto the balcony where they still had the rope. With that, Reiner started down the rope. Then it was Christa's turn, and then it was Ymir's turn.

"If we go through that garden, it'll be quicker to get to the village." Christa informed the two.

"Great." Reiner replied, "Let's go."

The three quickly made their way through the garden and found a road that lead out into the village.

"Oi! You three! Stop right there!" A male voice shouted behind them. It was one of the guards.

"Shit! Run!" Reiner yelled.

"Pirates are helping the princess escape!" Another guard shouted.

They took different paths, trying to lose the guards from their trail. After a while, they got exhausted and stopped to rest in an alley.

"I think we lost them..." Christa panted.

"Our ship is just around the block." Reiner spoke up.

"Let's go." Ymir said.

With that, the three continued to run to the ship. When they got there, however, there was no sign of Mikasa or Bertholdt. Only the things they bought at the stores.

"I'll go find them." Ymir sighed.

"Yeah, you're quicker than me." Reiner responded, "Just hurry so we can get out of here."

Ymir gave a nod. "And you better not let anyone near Christa."

"I'll guard her with my life." Reiner said, "I promise."

"Okay... I'll be back." Ymir announced before turning to leave the ship.

"Be careful!" Christa said to her before she left. Ymir gave a smile and then left, searching for the two raven haired pirates.

* * *

After they put their things on the ship, they decided to walk around the village a little more.

Mikasa had followed Bertholdt into a bookstore, where he was looking around. She glanced over at him while he was reading the first page of a book.

He looked so... normal. In her town, she grew up hearing about how ruthless and cruel him and his crew members were, but right now, he looked so gentle that he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Feeling her stare, he placed the book back on the shelf and turned around to face her. "Somethin' wrong?" Bertholdt asked and pushed his glasses up.

"No..." Mikasa answered.

"Sorry, I got distracted." he apologized and started to head out, "Where should we go next?"

"I don't know..." she replied as she followed him outside the store.

They both watched as people were finishing up at shops and kids were leaving the park. The sun was beginning to set, which was visible from where they were standing.

"Oof!" Bertholdt voiced as a little girl bumped into him and then landed on her butt. She looked around six years old and she had long, blonde curls. She had tears streaming down her cheeks from her hazel eyes.

"S-sorry mister!" she sobbed.

Bertholdt reached out a hand and helped her back onto her feet, "I-It's okay." he assured her.

"What's wrong?" Mikasa questioned, seeing the little girl's tears.

"I can't find my daddy..." she sniffled, wiping her runny nose with her shirt sleeve.

"Oh..." Mikasa said, then looked around the area they were in.

The little girl tugged on Bertholdt's pants. "Huh? What is it?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Can I get on your shoulders to see if I can find him?" she asked.

"Oh... sure." Bertholdt replied. Then, he got down on his knees and allowed the little girl to climb onto his shoulders. He stood up and let her get a good view of the place they were in.

"Do you see him?" Mikasa asked her.

"Oh! Over there!" the little girl pointed in a direction, a smile appearing on her face.

Mikasa and Bertholdt walked over to where she was pointing. One man caught sight of the little girl and quickly rushed over, a relieved expression on his face.

"Oh thank God!" he cried.

"Daddy!" she cheered. Bertholdt leant down and let her get off his shoulders. When she was off, she ran over and hugged the man.

"Thank you for bringing her to me." the man thanked Bertholdt and Mikasa.

"It was no problem." Bertholdt replied and nervously scratched the back of his head. The man flashed the two a warm smile. With that, he held his daughter's hand and they walked off in a different direction.

"That was nice..." Mikasa commented, walking beside Bertholdt n their way back to the ship.

"What?" he asked.

"What you did." she answered, "You're much more kinder of a person than I expected."

His expression turned a little sad looking, "I'm not kind..."

"I think you are." she disagreed.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before one of them spoke up.

"Thank you." he quietly thanked her, his gaze fixed on the ground. She just gave a small smile.

They continued to walk to silence. Right before they could turn the corner, a male voice was heard behind them.

"Oi, stop right there you two."

Mikasa and Bertholdt stopped dead in their tracks.

"Turn around."

She glanced over at him in the corner of her eye, unsure of what to do. Bertholdt let out a sigh and turned around to face whoever was talking. Mikasa did the same. The person talking turned out to be a soldier.

"Just as I suspected." the soldier said, "Bertholdt Hoover, and... whoever this young lady is."

The soldier slowly approached the two, pulling out his gun that was hanging on his back. "Were you kidnapped by these pirates, or are you one of them?" he asked Mikasa in a sweet tone.

She swallowed, "I'm..."

"We kidnapped her." Bertholdt bluntly stated.

"Is this true?" the soldier asked, tilting his head, "You poor thing..."

"No." Mikasa replied, "It's not. I'm a pirate too."

Bertholdt looked over at her in confusion. Why would she say that?

"Well then," the soldier said, dropping the sweet and sympathetic tone, "Looks like you two will be coming with me."

Bertholdt and Mikasa exchanged glances. They both tried turning around to escape, but they were met by two more armed soldiers.

One of the soldiers managed to tie their wrists together behind their backs, after threatening to shoot them. "Move it." they growled as they pointed guns in their backs.

The first soldier escorted the two to the nearest jail, shoving them both in the only empty cell left. The other cells were occupied by criminals or other pirates like them. The cells were separated by a stone wall and there was one window that was made of bars. It was pretty dark since it was turning nightfall and the moon was the only source of light. It was also cold.

"Your punishments will be held tomorrow, it's already decided." one soldier informed the two, "Tomorrow is when the other's are getting hanged as well, so you two are just going to be added to it."

With that, the soldier left the two alone. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of water dripping from the broken pipes in another cell.

The two just sat against the back of the furthest wall in silence.

 


	20. Helping a Princess Escape (Part 3)

**Third Person POV**

The faint sound of people groaning complaints could be heard throughout the jail once the guards left, leaving every cell in darkness. The only light source was coming through the window that had bars, which was moonlight.

"So, I'm guessing we're going to die tomorrow." Mikasa quietly spoke up, breaking the silence. She was sitting next to Bertholdt, against the cold, stone wall in the back of the cell.

"Ymir or Reiner will probably come to find us..." Bertholdt replied, glancing over in her direction since he could barely see her in the dark, "If not then we can probably figure out a way to escape."

Mikasa let out a sigh, "I just want to see Eren again..."

It was quiet between them again. The sound of crickets chirping and other insects making noises could be heard from outside. It sounded peaceful; but the air in the cell was tense. Mikasa was starting to feel more and more worried by the minute, thinking about the bad possibilities. She pulled her scarf up closer to her face, the soft fabric comforting her. It was warm and smelled like home.

"D-don't worry." Bertholdt quietly reassured, sensing her nervousness, "We'll be fine."

Quietly, she scooted over more towards him, until she was right against him. She didn't understand how he could be so warm when the cell was so cold. "I hope so..." she murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder that was barely at her level due to the height difference. He was kind of sweaty but she didn't mind it.

"W-we will be." he stuttered, hesitantly moving his hand on the opposite side up to gently pat her on the head. She leaned into the touch and closed her eyes.

After a while, the two fell asleep.

* * *

Everyone in the jail was awoken by the sound of a whistle. "Everybody up!"

A lot of groans were heard as guards came and unlocked several cells and escorted the criminals out.

"Sorry..." Mikasa spoke up, seeing that she fell asleep on the taller male.

"It's fine..." Bertholdt assured as they both stood up. Nobody had came to unlock their cell yet.

He looked outside through the barred window, a short smile appearing on his face. Mikasa didn't know why he was smiling but she didn't have time to think as she heard the sound of a lock being unlocked.

"Can't wait to see them hang you two." the guard smirked as he opened the cell, but his smirk went away as he laid eyes on Bertholdt. "What's with the smile? Are you happy that you're gonna die or something?"

"Maybe I am." he coldly replied as he followed the guard out. Mikasa slowly followed behind.

"Such a shame she's gonna die, a lot of her race has died out already." one man spoke as they saw Mikasa get in line.

"Is she Asian?" another man questioned. A lot of attention was being drawn towards her now.

"I've never seen your face before, what's your name?" one of the guards asked Mikasa.

"That's none of your business." Bertholdt quickly said towards him; not thinking before he spoke. He didn't want her to have to get involved in stuff like this. It was bad enough they kidnapped her.

"Technically, it is, asshole." the guard growled at him. "Be a good boy and shut up, I only want to hear you when you're gasping for air as we get to watch you die."

A few guards laughed at that.

"It's Mikasa." she quietly answered.

"What a nice name." the guard replied.

Soon they all reached the outside, where there was a platform and an audience in front of it.

The gallows.

Mikasa glanced over at Bertholdt with a worried expression. He sensed her stare and glanced down at her, then gave her an assuring smile. "Don't worry." he whispered so quietly that it was barely audible. But she had heard it clearly. Even with that, she still worried.

Bertholdt, Mikasa and the rest of the criminals were took onto the platform and had guards put ropes around their neck.

"Mikasa."

She glanced up at him. He had a smile plastered on his face.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Trust me."

Mikasa gulped, seeing that she didn't really have many options anyways. She did as he said and closed her eyes.

One of the people in charge of the hanging was reading off a slip of paper, naming all the crimes each criminal had committed.

"Porco. Wanted for piracy."

"Bertholdt Hoover. Wanted for piracy, countless brutal murders of many innocent lives, and-"

Suddenly, a female voice interrupted him.

"Surprise!"

Mikasa recognized the voice; it was Ymir, who seemed to be in a great mood. Suddenly, a small explosion went off and people in the audience were coughing and complaining.

Mikasa felt the rope around her neck loosen, pulling her scarf with it, then they fell to the ground as a larger hand grabbed hers. It was Bertholdt's. "No, my scarf!" she gasped.

"Let's go!" he said. Mikasa sighed and gave a nod, then followed Ymir away from the gallows. She didn't notice that he had grabbed her fallen scarf and briefly wrapped it around his arm.

With that, they quickly made their way back to the ship. Mikasa easily kept up with the two pirates, she was almost faster than them.

"We have two new people on the ship..." Ymir nervously laughed as they stopped in one of the alleys to rest for a moment.

"Who?" Bertholdt asked.

"We helped the princess escape," she began, then stopped when she saw his puzzled expression, "I'll explain that later."

Bertholdt nodded. "Who else?"

"I ran into Zeke on the way to find you two." she answered.

"Ah..." he replied.

"The captain...?" Mikasa questioned.

Ymir nodded in response. "He's an asshole. Just try to stay on his good side."

"Yeah..." Bertholdt trailed off.

"You're a much better captain..." Ymir quietly commented, glancing up at him.

"E-eh? I don't think-"

"You're much better than him, Bertl." Ymir cut him off, "The ship is better without him."

He sighed, "We need to get back."

"Right, let's go." Ymir replied.

The three quickly ran towards the port, relieved to find their ship still there. They quickly boarded it.

"We're back!" Ymir announced, "Let's get outta here!"

Bertholdt rushed up to the deck so he could get the ship moving as Ymir went and raised the anchor. Zeke, Reiner and Christa came up the stairs to the deck. Reiner went to fix the sail.

"Yay!" Christa cheered, running up to Ymir, "Thank you so much for this!"

"No problem." Ymir laughed, patting Christa on the head. "You should be thanking him though, he's the one who let us come here in the first place." she added, pointing over in Bertholdt's direction.

Christa made her way up to the higher deck and hugged the tall boy, "Thank you so much for helping me!"

"Y-you're welcome..." he stuttered, taken back by the action.

"Hey, where's my hug?!" Reiner whined.

"You don't get one!" Ymir growled, making her way over to him. Christa quickly approached the three, leaving Bertholdt.

Mikasa made her way over to him, not knowing what else to do. "I can't believe we escaped like that..." she quietly spoke, drawing his attention to her.

"Oh, here." he said, "This fell earlier."

"Huh?" she asked as he gently draped her scarf over her neck. Her eyes lit up and she felt the soft fabric, "My scarf..."

"I know it's important to you so I grabbed it." he said, scratching the back of his neck and averting his gaze from her.

"I thought I lost it...thank you." she said, giving him a warm smile. She was really relieved that she didn't lose it. Though, she wondered why she hadn't noticed him carrying it with him before.

"N-no problem." he replied in a stutter, a blush slightly dusting his cheeks.

Then he turned his attention to the wheel, making sure he had turned it right.

After a few short moments, Zeke walked over to the two. Mikasa took in his appearance. He was wearing glasses, along with a captain's attire. He had longish, light blonde, curly hair along with a light blonde mustache that descended down into a short beard.

His attention quickly turned to Mikasa. "Why hello there, I believe we haven't met." he said, then went and whispered to Bertholdt, "Who is she?"

"A-ah... " Bertholdt began, "Annie kinda... got captured by the Scouts a few days... few weeks ago."

"That's why I don't see lil' Annie..." Zeke replied, scratching his bearded chin.

"Yeah, so we found out she," Bertholdt motioned to Mikasa, "Is connected to one of the pirates there... Eren Jaeger."

"Jaeger...?" Zeke questioned, narrowing his eyes at the name.

"Yeah..." he replied, "So we kinda... kidnapped Mikasa so that they'll give us Annie back when we meet again, plus the information on the Coordinate."

Zeke nodded, then extended a hand towards her, "Well Mikasa, I'm Captain Zeke, nice to meet ya."

"You too..." she quietly spoke, shaking his hand that was much larger than hers.

"Come help me fix my room, will ya?" Zeke asked Bertholdt.

"Yes sir." he replied, then followed Zeke towards the lower deck where the cabins were. Mikasa just stayed behind, not knowing what to do. She went up to the Crow's Nest, to gaze out at the view.

After a while, it was evening and Reiner, with the help of Christa, prepared dinner.

When they were done, everyone left except for Mikasa and Reiner, who stayed behind to wash the dishes. Ymir helped Christa into one of the spare rooms. Zeke went and stayed in the Captain's Quarters. Bertholdt was moving his things from his room to another; the one in between Reiner and Annie's. The room he was currently in was originally Zeke's, so he needed to move back into his old room.

"Need help?" Mikasa offered as she walked out of the kitchen, alongside Reiner.

"I'll help too." Reiner spoke up.

"Sure, thanks." Bertholdt replied, accepting the offers.

With that, Mikasa grabbed a few boxes and Reiner did too. Though, Mikasa carried a few more than Reiner.

"Woah, how can you carry more than me?" Reiner questioned, setting the boxes down. Mikasa just shrugged in response.

"Ha, looks like someone's finally stronger than ya, Reiner." Ymir said from the hallway as she passed by the door.

"You're so strong, Mikasa." Christa complimented as she walked by the door as well, following behind Ymir.

"Oh, uh.... thanks..." Mikasa replied, flashing her a quick smile.

Reiner let out a sigh and made his way out of the room, seeing that Mikasa had got the rest already. "Night dorks." he said as he walked out the door.

"Thanks Reiner." Bertholdt thanked him.

"Mhm." Reiner hummed in response and left the room.

"Thank you for helping." Bertholdt thanked Mikasa as well.

She gave him a nod in response and tucked a strand piece of hair behind her ear. "Need help unpacking?"

"O-oh, sure..." he answered, surprised by the offer, "Thanks."

With that, she started helping him. When they were finished, they said their goodnights and Mikasa returned to her (Annie's) room, which was right next door.

The ship was quiet as everyone was sleeping.

It was a peaceful night.

 


	21. Sunken Scouts

**Third Person POV**

In the morning, everyone was woke up by the ship rocking furiously.

"Is there a storm?" Eren asked, sitting up from his and Annie's bed.

After hearing him talk, Annie woke up and sat up as well. "Feels like it," she replied, rubbing her tired eyes, "Man I have a headache and this is making it-"

_**BOOM!** _

Annie's sentence was cut off by an explosion. Eren and Annie exchanged glances before quickly getting out of bed and throwing on some more clothes. They both knew that they must be under attack.

_**BOOM!** _

After that one, the ship rocked harder than before.

Barging through the door, Armin rushed into the room with a worried expression.

"Armin, what's wrong?" Eren asked after putting on his last boot.

"Come to the deck, now!" was all the blonde boy said before running back out. Eren and Annie obeyed and rushed out of the room to meet up on the deck with the others.

Everyone was running around the deck, hurriedly doing things.

"What's going on?" Eren asked Levi, who was carrying things to the side of the boat. Then, a cannon ball was shot from the Scout's ship.

A few signal flares went off from the Scouts ship to signal that they were under attack.

_**BOOM!** _

"Bout time you woke up!" Levi scolded him, hitting him in the back of the head, "Why don't you take a look?!"

Eren looked out beside the ship to see what everyone was so worried about. Right there was another ship, bigger than the Scout's, with a huge flag waving in the air. The flag had a green unicorn on it. It was the Military Police; also known as the Navy.

"Oh shit." Eren cursed.

Captain Erwin and the Captain of the Military Police, Nike Dawk, was having a sword fight a few feet away.

_**BOOM!** _

This time a cannonball was shot from the Military Police's ship and it struck the bottom of the Scout's ship.

"Well, looks like it's the end for you and your crew, Smith." Nike said, seeing the damage of the hit.

The ship had several holes in the side form the cannonballs, the crows nest had been tore down, a few of the Scout's were injured, the ship was on fire in some places which would eventually spread to others and now there was a bigger emergency.

The two men continued to sword fight. Hange quickly helped the pirates who were injured, trying her best to patch up the small wounds.

"Captain Erwin!" Armin called, running up to the two but not too close because of the fight.

"What is it Arlert?!" Erwin asked as he continued to fight against Nile.

"WE'RE SINKING!" Armin loudly announced, the poor boy having a panic attack, "T-they shot a hole in the bottom of the ship!"

Everyone began to panic.

Nile laughed evily, "Guess my work here is done."

Erwin watched in shock as Nile quickly fled the deck as his crew members helped him back onto their ship. "And this, is the end of the Scouts." he shouted, celebrating victory. His crew members cheered as well.

"Everyone to the lifeboats!" Hange yelled as everyone was panicking.

BOOM!

Everyone looked over to see what was happening. The Military Police had stopped firing their cannons a while ago and the Scouts wasn't worried about firing cannons at the moment.

People on the Military Police's ship were the ones panicking now.

"Captain Nile!"

"Who the hell?!"

"Shit!"

"More pirates!"

There were now two pirate ships on both sides of the Military Police's ship. The other one was a little bigger and it was black. The flag was black with a red 'W' printed in it.

BOOM!

The Scouts weren't able to tell who the other pirates were because the Military Police's ship was blocking the view.

"They're attacking the Navy too? Why?" Armin asked the rest.

"I dont know but Connie and Jean! Go fire the cannons!" Erwin commanded, "Until you can't no more!"

"What?!" Connie exclaimed, "But-"

"Do it and give it all we've got!" Erwin cut him off, "We'll wait for ya."

"Aye aye!" The two boys said before rushing towards the stairway.

A few moments later, the Scouts began firing cannons towards the Military Police.

Nile started to panic, seeing that this other ship was more powerful and he couldn't fight against two pirate ships at the same time.

"If we both fight against them, they'll sink too..." Sasha spoke up.

"Yep." Erwin replied, watching as the two pirate ships began to destroy the Military Police's ship.

A few moments later, someone began shooting at the Military Police officers, killing them one by one.

"MARLO!" one girl screamed as she watched her friend get shot in the head.

"Captain Nile we're gonna sink!" one of the officers yelled. The Military Police's ship was being demolished more than the Scout's was.

A few moments later the ship began to sink as well as the Scout's. When the ship sank lower, the other ship was visible.

"The Warriors." Erwin spoke up, seeing Captain Zeke standing proudly at the side of the ship looking at the work he'd done. A few signal flares went off from the Military Police's ship.

"My ship...?" Annie questioned, looking at it.

The flag was different since she'd seen it last and there were several new female crew members.

Jean and Connie returned just in time to get in the lifeboats when the Scout's ship couldn't stay above water any longer. There were now only debris left of the S.S. Scout. The crew was able to all fit in one lifeboat, along with Mina the cat.

"And there she goes..." Erwin sighed, looking at the ruins of his ship.

"Hey what happened to 'the captain goes down with the ship'?" Connie asked.

"Fuck that, I ain't dyin'." Erwin replied.

When the Military Police's ship seemed done for, the S.S. Warrior moved around their ship and slowly inched closer to the lifeboats.

"Woah, you're really good at fighting..." Ymir complimented Mikasa after they tossed some Military Police officer's body over the side of the ship, letting it fall into the sea below.

"Nice work!" Zeke announced, looking at his crew, then pointed towards Christa and Mikasa, "You two girls really impressed me with your fighting!"

Everyone was shocked with how unusually happy captain Zeke was.

"That's my Christa!" Ymir cheered, wrapping an arm around the shorter blonde girl.

"Ymir... no," Christa spoke up, "That's... not my name..."

"Huh?" Ymir asked, watching as Christa turned her head to look up at her. Something had been bothering her.

"My name is Historia." she proudly answered, her bright blue eyes staring into Ymir's dull brown ones, "Historia Reiss."

"You're the same girl to me." Ymir slowly responded, a smile on her face.

"No..." Historia replied, glancing down towards the ground, "We're different. Christa was just a stupid facade I put on... Historia is the real me."

Slowly Ymir's grip loosened and she let go of Historia. Confused, Historia looked back up to her, only to be embraced again, but this time it was more gentle.

"Well, Historia, I'd love to get to know the real you."

Historia smiled, wrapping her arms around Ymir. Then, the S.S. Warrior came to a stop.

"Reiner, drop the ladder!" Zeke yelled.

"Aye!" Reiner yelled in response, the rushed to the side of the ship. He untied the rope that bundled up the ladder and dropped it, allowing the Scouts to climb up onto the ship.

"Eren!" Mikasa shouted, running up towards him as he got up the ladder.

"Mikasa?!" Eren gasped, "What are you doing here?!"

"Is she wearing my clothes...?" Annie asked, getting off the ladder right after Eren.

"It's a long story..." Mikasa began, then one looked over at Annie,"And I'm sorry, I didn't have anything else that was clean to wear."

"It's fine." Annie sighed.

"I'm glad you're okay..." Eren said, "I heard you went missing, but why are you here?"

"They thought that Annie was kidnapped, so they kidnapped me and was going to trade with you guys."

"They kidnapped you?!" Eren exclaimed, glancing over at Reiner and Bertholdt who were standing side by side.

"Hey! We thought you kidnapped Annie!" Reiner yelled in defense.

"Are you two stupid?!" Eren asked.

"Yes..." both of them answered.

After everyone was on the ship they quickly tried to get away from the Military Police's ship. Other Navy ships were coming to back them up so the pirates needed to get out of there.

"Thanks for helpin' us, Zeke." Erwin thanked him, "We owe ya."

"No problem." Zeke replied, "Them Navy pests deserved it."

"Nile's a pain in the ass." Erwin laughed.

Zeke nodded and laughed. "Hoover go set our course to get them off our tail before they get help from the others." he ordered.

"Yes sir." Bertholdt replied and went to his station.

"Go help him, Arlert." Erwin ordered as well.

Armin meekly nodded and followed after the taller boy.

"This ship is filthy." Levi commented, "I'm cleaning it up now."

With that Levi was gone. "Woah I didn't even see that little guy." Zeke said and laughed.

"He was behind me." Erwin replied, "He's very small but he can kill you in a split second."

"You guys have a huge kitchen!" Jean exclaimed.

"Hey kid, can you cook?" Ymir asked Jean.

"Yeah I can... and don't call me a kid." Jean replied, "You look younger than me."

"Don't let looks fool ya." Ymir replied, "but thank God you can cook. I've had to eat Reiner's cooking the whole time I've been on board, and he cannot cook."

"Hey! You love my cooking!" Reiner exclaimed with a hurt expression.

"No we don't." Ymir, Historia, and Zeke all said at the same time. Reiner just pouted.

"The Navy's gettin' backup, we need to get out of here faster!" Erwin shouted towards the boys on the higher deck at the wheel.

"We're trying!" Armin and Bertholdt responded, both trying their best to get out of there.

"We'll be fine." Zeke assured, patting Erwin on the shoulder, "We're much stronger than we seem."

After a while, the ship got close enough out of range for the Navy to be coming after them. The Scouts explored around the ship while Jean and Reiner cooked dinner.

When dinner was ready, everyone met in the dining room. After everyone was finished, Zeke made an announcement. "We don't have enough rooms, so some of you guys will have to share."

With that, everyone began discussing it, finding someone to share a room with.

"Erwin please share a room with me." Levi begged the older man, "I can't sleep in the same room as that woman anymore. She's driving me insane."

"Alright." Erwin sighed. He had never heard Levi ask him something with the word 'please' the entire time he's known the man.

"Aw, what!" Hange pouted, "I thought we were getting along!"

Mikasa was about to ask Eren, but before she could speak, Annie got his attention.

"I can share my room if ya want." Annie offered, pushing her blonde bangs out of her face.

"Alright, I guess we're room mates again." Eren replied, flashing her a smile.

Annie quickly looked away, trying to hide her blush. "Yeah."

Mikasa just silently watched the two as they put away their dirty dishes and left the room. She glanced over to see that it had Bertholdt's attention too.

"Sashaaaa!" Connie called, "Be my room mate!"

"Okay!" Sasha answered. The two went to find a spare room to share. They were like twins.

"Hey, Reiner, wasn't it?" Jean asked, "Wanna be room mates?"

"Sure." Reiner answered, "I don't mind."

The two boys went to Reiner's room. Bertholdt let out a sigh, realizing he'd have to share with a random person now.

Hange walked over to Mikasa, then asked, "Do you have a room mate?"

"No." Mikasa answered, "Want to share?"

"Yes, thank you." Hange replied, then held out her hand, "My name is Hange Zoe, nice to meet you."

Mikasa gently shook her hand, "I'm Mikasa, it's nice to meet you too."

After quickly grabbing some of her things out of Annie's room, Mikasa went with Hange to find a spare room they could share.

The only two left were Armin and Bertholdt.

"I'll share my room, if you want..." Bertholdt quietly offered.

"Oh, okay." Armin replied and gave him a smile, "Thank you."

"No problem." he replied, returning the smile.

After that, the two boys headed to Bertholdt's room. 

* * *

 

When everyone had their rooms, they all met on the main deck.

"Well, you guys are welcome to stay here as long as ya want," Captain Zeke spoke up, "Tomorrow we'll try to get to a port to stock up on more stuff."

"Your ship is much bigger than ours..." Jean commented in amazement.

"And more filthy." Levi scoffed, "A clean ship is a good ship."

"Is he a clean freak or somethin'?" Zeke whispered towards Erwin. He nodded. Levi just shot the bearded man a glare.

"Do we have any booze?" Zeke turned and asked Reiner.

"Yes sir." Reiner replied, "I'll go get some."

"Great." Zeke replied and watched as Reiner left to go get it, "I need some."

After Reiner returned with the barrel and some mugs, everyone who wanted some dipped their mugs in.

"To our new crew." Zeke raised his mug. Everyone did the same and added a "Yeah!" to it. Then they started drinking.

"Hey," Annie said as she approached Reiner and Bertholdt, "I need to talk to you two later."

"Okay." Reiner replied and then ruffled Annie's hair until she smacked his arm away, "Glad to have ya back."

"Yeah..." Bertholdt quietly agreed.

"Uh-huh." Annie replied and rolled her eyes, "Later dorks."

With that she left the two and went back over to Eren and Mikasa who were chatting.

Later on in the night everyone eventually got tired and decided to wash up and then go to bed. The Warrior crew helped the others find their way around the ship. It might take a while for everyone to get used to the new arrangement, but it would have to do.

 


End file.
